Ad Libitum (On Hiatus)
by ThisIsLackLuster
Summary: Paulo's senior year couldn't have started any worse than it had; his best friend, Mike had moved to Richter to be with his sweet-heart, the girl of his dreams wouldn't accept his love, his friends have all gone in separate directions. Faced with the ever-looming possibility that he might need to repeat the year before it even really begins, Paulo seeks help from an unlikely source.
1. Mike's farewell

'You're moving?'

It was difficult to ignore the ominous silence following those two words as they rang out throughout the room. There were two reasons for this. For one, you couldn't ignore anything that came from Paulo's mouth as best you tried. It didn't matter how noisy the cafeteria was with everyone celebrating the final day of the school year; you heard. It was simple as that. Painfully obnoxious and obnoxiously loud; Paulo was the same as he ever was up to the end of his junior year.

But everyone's attention wasn't directed towards him. The complete attention of the room centred directly on one certain grey feline who wore a blue scarf around his neck. He was better known as Michael. Everyone around him simply referred to him to his shortened name; " _Mike"_.

He was the second reason. Anything involving him was sort of a big deal.

'Yeah. . .' Mike said, feeling awkward, slightly embarrassed at the attention he was suddenly getting. Even the stares from his own friends, who looked on with some sadness in their eyes, 'Sandy was scouted by a University in France. They told her they'd accept her preference when she graduated next year, and. . . I've decided to go with her! I'll be moving to Richter and doing my final year at her school as well.' He smiled, 'It wasn't an easy decision to make!'

He struggled to keep his own emotions in check; he had lived in Roseville for all his life, he spent nearly every school day with the people around him. They all entered Roseville High together, but he would be absent when they would graduate from it. It was such an awful thought. They really meant the most to him. But there was Sandy, and she meant the world.

Paulo felt a mixture of emotions at the words himself, he didn't quite know what to say, or feel for that matter; a little sad, unsure, lost? When Lucy shifted schools the year before, he was heart-broken over it. This felt much worse. Mike had been there for him in times of need. He wanted to say something, something that would rile Mike and lift the life of the table…but he couldn't. Not this time. Something in him just refused to make light of the situation. There was a pain that was just too much to bear. When it came to Paulo's turn to say goodbye, he couldn't hold himself back and pulled Mike into an embrace. Their friends would need to separate the two, particularly when they noticed Mike starting to struggle for air.

'We'll need to do something before you go.' Paulo told him as he wiped a tear away.

Though they wouldn't get the chance; Mike disappeared the following week unexpectedly, only a few weeks before the school year ended. Rumour had it Sandy was already waiting for him as he got home that afternoon. They left that evening. Paulo hadn't heard from him since. How long had Mike held out from telling them? Paulo wondered as he stared up to his ceiling from his bed teary-eyed one night during the summer break.

Somewhere deep down inside of him, he wished he never let go of his closest friend.


	2. A bad hand

Paulo's eyes flew open to the ringing of the school bell. It followed with a blinding brilliance and a sharp piercing sting he wasn't ready for, and his instincts kicked in without a second's delay; closing them and wincing in pain as he did so. He had caught the Sun staring back into him through the window of the classroom. The period was over, and by extension, so too was the rest of the school day.

The sting would linger in his memory for a short moment, but the sensation would soon be replaced with something stronger. He slowly began to piece together what had happened — and like that, the sting went straight to his ego.

'Oh, good grief….' He muttered in disbelief.

A genius he was not; he had tried to spend an insurmountable effort to try and focus on the class. Instead, he woke to find himself sprawled over his desk. His arms cradled his head off the surface. He didn't try to lift himself up. Instead, he simply slid his left arm closer, so it shielded his line of sight from the Sun. Doing so, Paulo groaned in defeat; it would've been the second time since school resumed he'd failed himself; it wasn't his intention to fall asleep. He really tried to stay awake this time and focus on his education, but it wasn't going so well.

Those around Paulo whom would claim to know him would find it "out of character" for someone like him to focus on school. But they would be wrong, he would tell you without a moment's hesitation. He had tried, he really did! He could only feel sorry for himself. Give him a moment and he would find the means to rally himself. He'd only really need to try again; this moment would be but a minor setback.

A lapse in judgement at that moment caused Paulo to try to remember why he bothered in the first place. In response, a part of him he always had difficulty coming to terms with subconsciously complied to his request. When it did so, it didn't stray from the truth whatsoever. The sting Paulo felt to his ego moments before would feel sharper as he let his thoughts drift.

He hurt inside when it did. Why did it always need to hurt him so much?

It all went back to the end of the junior school year. Paulo found himself inside the Guidance Councillor's office, to the jeers of his peers when he was beckoned from his class. It wasn't a good sign to start with. He begrudgingly put up with being told there was concern over his grades. He couldn't find the will to protest. He had none. He had his reasons, but he couldn't blame how chaotic his last year was. Something told him they wouldn't hold up in an argument. The talk soon led to the possibility of needing to repeat the year if he could not keep up with his colleagues, the idea of which shook him to his core.

Repeating the year. The idea horrified him. He wouldn't be able to find himself thinking of too much else that day, except for home. He looked forward to going home; his sanctuary. He would be safe there. Nothing could touch him when he was in his sanctuary. But he was wrong. His father was there, waiting. Paulo's school told him over the phone. But there was a problem even his father couldn't find an easy answer to; how could he punish his son? He couldn't ground him; he just couldn't see it doing too much. Paulo's job was helping them make it through the month, so he couldn't tell him to quit. Paulo didn't own too much that he could take off him as punishment, nothing in the way of possessions, and unbeknownst to his father by the end of that school year — friends for that matter either.

They would talk about it, it was the only thing they could both agree on. Paulo couldn't avoid him, he had no choice but to let the blades sink into him from all directions. There was no excuse, he had no excuse to be doing so poorly.

He bore the brunt of it. But the worst thing that was said that evening was his father saying sorry to him for failing him. Paulo never cried harder to himself that evening. He never wanted his father to be so upset with him, it was hard to make him angry in the first place, it's why it hurt him so much inside. . .

. . .And he felt like he deserved this. How couldn't he think like that? He made no effort to prepare for it, preferring to live-in-the-now and only dealing with things as they came (coincidentally, so long as that wasn't school-work). The past had caught up to him. The guy who took everything for granted suddenly had nothing — he was unloved and alone. The "now" as it were, was filled with a few less people that he felt he could turn to in his time of need. The Fellowship—, oh how he used to love to call it that (but not to anyone!), was a lot smaller now than how it used to be. In fact, a better way to describe it was it stopped existing, for the most part. While the gang still remained civil to one another as they passed each other in the school's hallways; sharing what daily concerns and well-wishes to one another, hardly ever did the same group of friends who came to Roseville High sit at the same table during lunch and eaten that year together in good company. Without Mike or Lucy, it just seemed like they had no reason to stick together as tightly as they once did. As the days went on, they all appeared to have sailed in different directions for their own reasons.

And that agitated Paulo deep inside.

Paulo thought back to that moment, back to that moment when the straw finally snapped. He wasn't sure if there was anything he really could have done to stop it coming to pieces in the first place. They'd all been through a lot, he began to suspect the nail in the coffin may have been the moment that Mike had told them he was leaving. A lot of the ties that bound everyone together had fractured soon after. When Mike left, suffice to say, there might not have been much left that made them continue to feel like they belonged.

He couldn't help but feel envy at Mike, but he was always envious; Mike was such a goddamned natural at everything without even realising it. He would underestimate his role in the group when he made the decision to leave; he really was the glue that held them all together. Did he just have to be? It was unfair!

Maybe he could have tried something, had he the motivation to do so — had Lucy not broken his heart.

Outside he managed to keep his feelings in check, but inside his heart tore itself open.

A week after Mike left Paulo would amass the courage to tell Lucy his feelings for her. She would turn him down, something nobody had expected, and broke his heart, and again as she said her goodbyes completely to all of them. Since then, she'd been seeing a different crowd. He never really knew why exactly she decided to stop being friends with them. It just happened one day. He couldn't find the inner strength to ask if he could follow her. He found himself unable to try; he figured he knew her answer anyway. He lost two friends that month, and he felt several more as he started to spiral down into this depressive like state he found himself in.

He made no effort to keep things together. He went against himself, he wouldn't give too much thought into what might have been had he the motivation to fill Mike's role in the group. They all found other friends in time, whether it be in their year or one of the younger classes.

Paulo wouldn't find new friends that year. It wasn't that he couldn't, somewhere deep inside he was pretty sure he could if he tried. But he had found himself…uninterested in everyone, especially after Lucy. He felt more alone now since the events of last year. Worst still, when he thought about needing to repeat his senior year as he stared up to his ceiling from his bed, were it to happen those feeling would undeniably turn into a reality; the people he used to be friends with himself would move on without him. The idea filled him with more dread than before; there would be nothing more embarrassing or more tragic.

He wasn't entirely left to his own devices; the Guidance Councillor had tried to be helpful and gave him a few ideas on how to improve his method of study in the new year, given he could not afford summer "catch up" classes. Of course, the idea of getting into study groups had come up. It was not like he had not done this before, but he would suggest others a few years under him. The idea of this was embarrassing enough as it was, it could get worse; Jasmine's name would come up as a potential study partner, and then that idea immediately became off limits. He'd sooner prefer to die, as awful as that sounded; even towards an ex of his. He just couldn't bear the idea of facing her again.

It was all over between them as far as he was concerned. Them studying together…god he just couldn't do it.

He had other candidates. Despite their estranged relationship, Paulo still had access to Daisy in the absolute worst possible case scenario that ends would refuse to meet. They didn't talk together all that much anymore, but Paulo was sure if given the opportunity Daisy would try to help him. David was in there too, but in both faced a problem — both Daisy and David would take on more work themselves this year; they had their own problems too. They were just…better academically than he was.

He couldn't help but feel sorry for himself thinking about it, he was just so far behind in many ways. He could not help but feel horribly guilty at the thought of asking them to take some time to help him at his level. Worse, what if he grew dependant on them again like he used to? Even worse still, what if he pulled them down with him? Strained relationships were enough, but forcing his friends to be worse off on his account wrought hell on his conscience.

An answer would come to him the night before his senior year started. Paulo was shocked at his brilliance, it was painfully obvious what he had to do; he would just need to learn to do things on his own for a change! After all, he put himself in this situation, he would drag himself out kicking and screaming if he had to. It would be his most selfless endeavour yet, he needn't to bother his friends. He would manage, he would find a way to make up for the past!

…

It didn't work, his conscience tore into him when it occurred; part of him had caught himself in a deliberate attempt to sugar-coat what would otherwise be the truth. He grew angry at himself as well; he just couldn't accept such a fake excuse.

Working on his own was not to prepare himself to succeed this year. Paulo's genius idea was a compromise for the inevitable; failing the class, and being better prepared for the repeat year. The Guidance Councillor had the same thoughts himself; why else would he suggest finding someone to help him from the grade under him and not his own? It made him feel nauseous on the inside, nobody had any faith in him, not even himself.

He wanted to succeed, really, he wanted to!

Paulo's attention went to the sounds of the classroom emptying, before becoming aware of something foreign resting under his right arm; a different surface felt partially wedged between it and the desk. Inquisitively, he rose his head and glanced to the stapled sheets of paper that had been put there. Possibly homework, he wondered to himself, the teacher must have put them there at some point during the lesson, but he must have been completely out.

To his shock, he realised, they didn't even try to wake me.

It hurt, why did it always have to hurt?

His attention remained on the stapled paper, he bought it close to himself and tried reading the words off it, but they weren't making too much sense; of no thanks to a yellowish-blue spot burned into his vision from the sun before. He bought both his hands up to rub his eyes, but couldn't react fast enough as the paper left his desk and found a place on the floor in front of him, and again as it was kicked.

He stopped rubbing his eyes and peered forward from the desk, he wasn't sure if the dirty footprint across it was from just now or had always been there when it was printed. He made no effort to reach down for it, instead preferring to let his head meet the desk again and closing his eyes. He was at rock-bottom. He just couldn't feel motivated from being in school, was there any real point to learning about some of the things they were taught? Did they matter? He wished he could be more like Mike, but he couldn't be him. He couldn't resort to fake his way through either, the idea killed him inside. He didn't want to be like that anymore, he could only try to be himself. He was convinced he couldn't go any higher.

Things need to change, he told himself. He needed to find a reason to care about them. He tried to summon inside of him some kind of motivation to be better…

…But he gave up. He just couldn't. It was impossible; he fell asleep in the class, he had learned absolutely nothing today. He was already deflated at the result of the first five days of his change. It was all just utterly hopeless, wasn't it? He was going to fail, like he always did.

Paulo was only allowed to continue feeling sorry for himself for less than a second before the paper found itself moving yet again. He wasn't ready for what followed; as the paper found itself forcefully jammed itself between his head and his arm. Paulo reacted immediately opening an eye to a furred hand withdrawing from it. The owner of it sighed and turned in the direction to the door of the classroom.

Paulo jerked upright, he recognised the person almost immediately. He called out to her, 'S—Sue!'

If for just for a moment, it was like she was suddenly moving faster away from him. Paulo knew this would happen, so even before he called out he had started to move out from the desk himself. Unfortunately, the chair couldn't move backwards fast enough to match his reaction. Though he managed to be quick enough to grab Sue's hand, he bought the desk with him. The commotion could be heard two rooms away.

Susan wasted no time picking herself up off floor. Rather – She picked herself off Paulo who cushioned her fall. She glanced over her shoulder to find him draped over the overturned desk and the chair he bought with him. The thought of helping him up didn't come across her. It wasn't enough she couldn't stand Paulo, but to be mixed up in a compromising situation would be the end of her. She made for the exit, but a part of her couldn't ignore the wail behind her to get her to stop as she reached it, and to her own objections — she did.

She couldn't believe herself. It would take all the strength in the universe to stop herself from repeatedly slamming her skull against the door-frame. She would think against doing so; it wouldn't suit any purpose other than proving how likely insane she was at the thought of entertaining him. But she begrudgingly gave in to her nature.

'Get up, Paulo.' She said to him from the door.

Paulo felt a ray of sunshine envelop him as he tried to pull himself up from the chaos, he looked up at her from the floor, his eyes widened, and a smile began to protrude from his face. There was but a small glint of hope—.

She scowled back with her arms folded as soon as she saw it. Sue was untrusting of him, for good reason too. A cold "no" left her lips at whatever thought Paulo was holding onto.

Paulo's smile flipped into a frown at the reception. 'Sue, please! You have to help me!' He begged. He made no effort to hide his desperation. His pride would've died from shame if the situation wasn't so dire.

'No, Paulo.' Sue repeated, she threw his name in there for good measure. Gosh! She couldn't remember the last time she felt so…pleased with herself. Was there ever a time before where she could put him in his rightful place? The response she got back was truly pathetic, like as if she just blew out the flame from a candle; the wick had gone dark, and the accompanying smoke trail turned into a stream of tears.

Tears?. . .

Sue watched as Paulo bow his head to the ground and watched as tears began to stream from his face and into the carpet. There was a pain in her chest. It wasn't the first occasion Sue had ever seen him cry, but it would be the second time this year. It was hard to forget the first; she was there when Lucy broke his heart. She couldn't feign her surprise when it happened. Sue was sure Lucy had the same feelings deep down inside her for a time, but then she noticed Lucy beginning to avoid him for a while after she returned to the school. They should have been a tight fit, Paulo made them out to be like it was destiny. She wondered what might have gone wrong.

She tried to hold onto what feeling she felt moments ago when she was putting him down, but now the feeling began to make her feel rotten inside. The two never got along together. She couldn't begin to remember the number of times he infuriated her. She didn't like his childish demeanour. He always made jokes at her expense. Through all the years they shared at the same school she couldn't once remember a single time she ever received a compliment from him. In fact, she was one of the few he never showed a romantic interest in, a hound-cat that he was, but this fact alone would never truly bother her.

He deserved this, she reassured herself. It was Karma-incarnate; you can't always just take things in life for granted, as he did on a constant basis. You sow what you reap.

But again, her nature came into conflict with herself. She wanted to leave and be done with it for good, but her heart sank instead. She couldn't find it in herself to just abandon him, could she? Paulo had managed to fall off the radar entirely. He would have almost completely isolated himself from everyone around him if it wasn't for David trying desperately to keep Paulo's spirits up, and what little time did David have available.

She bit her lip. No, she most certainly could leave him here! She told herself. She went to turn away but found her body refusing, an unknown force kept her planed her there. She couldn't believe herself! First her conscience, now the rest of her body betrayed her?! Could she not just have this cake and eat it too?

She looked back at Paulo. God, what a pathetic sight indeed. She could only subconsciously weigh her options, and sighed when the only appropriate answer elicited a response that made her feel that it was the right thing to do. She rolled her eyes and finally barked orders to the sight drowning itself in its own despair. Damned be the thing that compelled her to do so.

'My place. Tomorrow at 1pm.' She told him. 'We'll catch up on what you slept through.'

Paulo beamed back with life that was as intense as the Sun he had stared into moments ago. His smile forming his trademark grin he was once known for and his tears of despair replaced with tears of joy almost instantaneously. Sue couldn't have felt any more disgusted, at Paulo or even at herself for letting him get to this stage. She wanted to kick him in the teeth so badly for guilting her into such a position, but her urge to leave won out.

'Bring your books and nothing else!' She ordered again. She turned from the door frame, not feeling the force that kept her locked there anymore, but jumped back as she turned into Amaya who watched behind her, who too supported a cheeky grin.

Sue sighed in defeat for a second time. 'One is enough as it is, Amaya.'


	3. Dare: change

Paulo found himself hightailing it through Roseville just after quarter past one in the afternoon, he cursed himself repeatedly; he had forgotten where Sue lived. He couldn't remember the last time he went there, or if he had ever—!

Hold on; he never forgot, he never knew in the first place!

 _Oh god, was that how things were?_

He hadn't particularly noticed before, they had been friends … _kind of_ friends for a while, he guessed? Or were they just colleagues? You know, he was never sure. Was there ever a time the gang were all at her house? Individually they might have, not all the rehearsals for Sue's play took place at the school. What about Mike? Surely a study group at some time? Daisy? Maybe the same reason? David? Unlikely…

He was smitten at the realisation, he had never actually been to her house. He was never invited.

He was already in deep trouble that afternoon enough as it was. It only right after lunch when he remembered about his study session with Sue and spent an additional fifteen minutes deliberating if he even really wanted to go. When he worked up the courage (only by remembering he _wanted_ to succeed this year) he then realised he didn't even know where she lived! He didn't even know her number! What a way to start the weekend! He had to take a trip to the cinema just to find Amaya to find out where Sue lived, and even then, without a map—

He turned left and entered the property Amaya described faster than he'd ever run before. He had an idea; as his foot came to rest on the door mat, he curled his only free hand and bought it up to the door. He expected to bounce off it; both knocking, and stopping himself from his sprint. Instead, the door swung open, and a person moved into his way from behind it. The figure he assumed was Sue tried to yell something at him but he didn't take notice, stopping himself suddenly became much more important, but he couldn't.

He felt himself regain consciousness a few seconds later realising he was inside, and on something else that was softer beneath him. It pushed him off in the same instant.

'You _idiot_! You're late _and_ you're clumsy!' Sue yelled at him as she got up.

 _At least he was good with directions_ , he tried to muse with himself. The day couldn't get any worse, he was sure.

* * *

They sat opposite each other at the living room table, their books by their side and a laptop computer shared between them, though - mostly on (and used exclusively by) Sue's side. A little more than half an hour had passed and already Paulo was certain that he had been killed in the earlier incident and he was currently in hell. He struggled to concentrate. His eye didn't make it any easier, he pushed the cooling pack into it a little deeper; another to the growing list of causalities, ignoring his pride, of course. Sue would apologize profusely about the damage, it had been coincidental her fist was raised as high as it was when he bowled through the door. She had been waiting for him for a while. Paulo thought better to let it slide. After all, he almost had given her a concussion for the second time in two days. It was the least he could do, right?

Sue had taken no time in laying down the law, Paulo swore that she had almost been preparing it just for this occasion. It was delivered it like a speech, and utterly predictable; first having declared early that nobody goes into her room without her permission, and he dared not drift further than the lounge room or the bathroom. It was concise to say the least, had they been closer friends at a younger age it probably wouldn't have mattered. He had been in Daisy's room after all on some occasions. Then again, he supposed she at least considered him a close friend to allow that. Sue didn't, he figured.

He couldn't lie, he had begun to imagine what kind of nerdy shit Sue had strewn about her room. But for some reason that fact from before had made a part of him feel just a little sad.

He glanced upwards from his workbook to Sue. She had the same idea, but hers pierced back, judging. It felt threatening, his eyes returned to the book.

An hour would pass, but there hadn't been much progress. Things started getting worse when Sue had said something smarmy about Paulo's level of knowledge when Paulo's worst habit met hers.

'You're not very good at teaching.' He told her.

Sue stared back at him astonished, 'Excuse me?!'

'We've been on this same chapter for ages, this is not making any more sense. I'm pretty sure Daisy could explain this better.' He quipped.

'Daisy … is probably used to someone who doesn't try!' She got up from her seat. 'You're infuriating. Teach _yourself_ for a bit, I'm going to the bathroom.'

 _Fuck_ , Paulo thought aloud. Why was he even here? Why wasn't he at Daisy's? What did he hope to gain from the _Lion's Den_? He couldn't remember, he blocked it out inside, pushed it into the deep recesses of his mind. He ignored it, he looked forward to his worksheet.

The part of his gut he never listened to wondered, but was astonished Sue didn't call it quits and he didn't find himself on the curb. Yes, it was true; she was having difficulty teaching him, she was getting ahead of herself in the work in a way that suited her. He was behind…far behind. Daisy would have noticed him struggling immediately, but Sue wasn't too inclined to feel it asked for leniency. To make the whole situation worse, Paulo's own pride wouldn't let him admit any of this, particularly to _her_.

He felt a wave of guilt for the earlier confrontation, this would happen often; he'd run his mouth, and then only think of the other person's feelings after it was done. It had been getting worse as of recent, he'd only realise how good he was at digging a hole to throw himself in. It pained him on the inside. He was sure he wasn't like this, really. Sue was really doing her best, and she was taking time out of her own schedule to help him, but an element that was making this better for both was missing. He struggled to determine what that missing that exactly was.

He stared at the workbook trying to ignore the creeping guilt. It perplexed him, he gave up immediately and threw his head back to look at the ceiling from the seat. He began to have doubts, was she teaching him wrong, or was he really this far gone? God, was the Guidance Councillor right about him? Was it just better for him to go back to Jasmine and repeat the grade?

He felt angry and embarrassed at the idea. That was not going to happen!

He dropped his pen and instead reached out towards the laptop and slid it towards himself. He had a thought, if he could look up how to do this equation quickly in a better way than the way Sue had explained it, he might not even need to go all the way back to the start. He hoped it wasn't locked. Thankfully, it wasn't. But he was shocked, as the screen lit up the answer was already in front of him. He read it over, he couldn't believe it, it was exactly as how Sue tried to describe it to him moments ago.

He sat back, he still didn't get it. He tried something else. Something a little more deliberate. _Ah!_ _That looked better. Oh, that was the solution the whole time?_ He did the workings, and wrote them and the answer down in his book.

He felt better, was that all there was to it? That was easy come to think of it! Why did he need Sue in the first place?

The flashing graphic near the top of the screen was starting to get on his nerves. Did it ever stop flashing? He clicked on it. He froze. He clicked on it again and watched as the window hid off screen. He thought for a moment. _Was that something I needed to see?_

His conscience was drowned out by his curiosity. He poured over the chat.


	4. Taming the Lion

\- Yearrug! What are you doing?

\- (( Hey, Sue, are you there?))

\- (( Oh! She's got her busy marker on. =\ ))

\- (( ( ◞･౪･) ))

\- (( At least you're on, Amaya! ))

\- (( Do you think they're getting along? ))

\- (( (￣ω￣;) ))

\- (( It's kind of a shame Abbey stopped playing. There's only a few of us now. :\ ))

\- (( (,,꒪꒫꒪,,) ))

\- (( I was thinking we could go to the Bar and pick up that quest we were looking at a week ago, where we have to move to Asroth and — ))

It was what he'd been looking for; Mike used to talk to him about this game that he and a few others used to play online. He always expected Sue to be playing such a nerdy thing. He knew Amaya would be playing it too, she and Sue were friends after all. He wasn't half expecting Abbey to be interested in it. On the other hand, he had absolutely no idea Stacy was into it too, Mike begged him not to tell anyone else, he complied, but only because Mike had asked.

 _This is utterly boring,_ he told himself as he read through the conversation. He had hoped he could catch them in on the act, but perhaps Sue was the one who hosts the events. Paulo was here for the good stuff, where was it? He started looking around clicking the various buttons on screen, eventually after a few clicks around the interface he eventually found the entire log of what he guessed was something recent of at least one of their adventures from maybe last year. The deeper he read, the deeper his grin grew. _What is this? No, really, what is this nerd shit?_ He asked himself again.

'I really didn't think you would stoop that low.' It came from behind him, out of nowhere and smooth like as if she had been expecting it. He recognised the voice immediately and jumped as she said it. His finger struck the keyboard bringing the web browser back to the foreground. He was too wrapped up in the logs he didn't even hear the bathroom door close.

He turned around in his chair. 'S…Sue what took you?' He asked. He tried to act as if he had been doing work this while time. A feign attempt if any; she saw everything. She reached over him and slammed the laptop shut. He only managed a mere split-second before he would have to add his fingers to the growing casualty list.

'I was behind you the entire time! You've got some serious nerve going through my stuff especially after inviting you to my own home!' She was cross, rightfully so. She tore the laptop away from him and placed it on the shelf behind her before turning to him arms folded, 'Maybe you should leave.'

'I was only trying to shut it off, I swear. How can I look things up on the web when that fucking thing is going off in the corner of the screen?' God, what an awful argument. If he couldn't convince himself what was the likelihood she was convinced? Paulo remained adamant, 'Really, Sue! I'm not interested in your nerd shit.'

Sue was still visibly aggravated at the breach of her rules, but she closely considered the possibility of what he told her, she studied him for a few seconds before she let her arms drop. She picked her laptop off the counter again and returned to her seat. 'If I catch you doing anything like that again…. ', she started, but she needn't finish it. It was blunt enough even the dullest person would be able to perceive it as a threat. Paulo would receive it correctly in turn, he wouldn't doubt if he stepped on her toes the wrong way again he'd find his ass own on the front lawn.

But Paulo could help but study her back, that was not exactly the response he was expecting. What he had expected was her to get upset and try to lecture him. Better yet, kicking him out was a get-out-of-jail-free card at this point. Sure; sacrifice one associate, but he had renewed confidence to work on his own at this point. God, if only he could make up his mind at this point about whether he felt he should be here himself. Was she really finished with him? _No, she wasn't_.

'I'll give you the benefit of the doubt this time.' It was said stern and cool as she opened her workbook back open to the page before. 'It's far too complicated for someone like you anyway.' If there was anything that the two had in common, it was that they somehow knew how to get under each other's skin. It was sad that they both treated each other this way, but Paulo wouldn't think that; he'd take the bait.

'That wasn't what I said. What's so complex about a video game?' He asked back.

She didn't pay him too much mind, her retort was quick in a way that was condescending; 'It's _much_ too deep for you.'

He scoffed, 'Oh please, if it's anything as deep as your play—' Her fist came crashing down on the table before he could finish. It caught him by surprise and he almost fell backwards off the chair. If there was anything that really got to Sue, it was making fun of the play she did years ago. She reacted less and less each time, but this time felt different, maybe she never got over it after all, she might have just got better at hiding it.

'We adventure; we travel, we find monsters, we _kill_ said monsters, we fulfil quests, we get rewarded, we buy better equipment. And we play as if we were our characters.' Sue growled.

'You play as if you were _them_?' He was still set aback from her slamming her fist on the table, but found himself drawing a smile at the idea. 'Playing a game is one thing but making shit up as you go?! That's the nerdiest—'

'It's called _role-play;'_ she interjected, 'we play and talk to each other as if we were our characters. It's nothing different from when you used to play make-believe games with Daisy and David years ago!'

Paulo felt himself flush, 'T…That's—.'

Sue cut him off again before he could finish, 'The same thing.'

Paulo didn't quite understand, how in the hell did she know about that all of that? He never saw her around the places he used to play as a kid. It was embarrassing thinking about it. Did David tell her? He swallowed. 'That's kid stuff though...'

'It's acting! The context doesn't matter!' Her ears flattened, 'When did that kind of stuff stop being fun to you?' She asked.

Paulo was taken aback, he didn't immediately respond. He thought back and recounted the days he and David used to play make believe they were characters from the TV shows they used to watch as kids. When did they stop? It must have been sometime around when they entered middle-school? He didn't really have an answer, did he?

Wait, why is he even thinking about this? Sue attempting to make a point of something about him? Perish the thought.

'When I grew up, I'm not interested in that stuff anymore!' He replied.

'When you _grew up_?' The idea would be funny if it weren't so sad, 'Because trying to get laid by every female who walks past is the grown-up thing people do.'

' _Shut the fuck up_!' He snapped. 'I haven't dated since Rachel. God, even then it wasn't even dating!'

'That's surprising, then what _are_ you doing with yourself then?' Sue probed.

'I work more now! Why in the hell are you that interested in my social-life anyway? How about you try getting one of your own first before you try to judge mine?'

It was a lie for the most part, he wasn't working extra hours; his father wouldn't let him especially after he saw Paulo's report card for the previous year. His father was lenient with him with a few things years before, that stopped, the line had to be drawn somewhere. Paulo spent those extra hours that he used to use on the phone to girls at home doing… well, nothing. He thought he could dedicate that time to his to study, but as obvious enough as that was, it wasn't going so well. His free time either went to staring blankly from his bed to the ceiling, or to old comic books from years ago he keeps finding all over his room. _David's_ comics, to be precise, ones he had liberated from a trade years ago. David never gave him the Stereo he lent him back. Nor did David ever ask for those comics again, but Paulo kept them in the event he did.

He hoped Sue didn't know better about his circumstances. Did she ever go to Burgertron? He couldn't recall seeing her there himself. He didn't suppose she ate junk food. The more he thought about it, the more he seemed to realise he didn't know much about her as he thought he did, but she knew things about him he never told anyone else before, it terrified him, where did she find this out? Did David tell her? He didn't know how to feel about it, it was… His conscience knew; an invasion of his privacy, much like what he just did to her.

They were both at each other's throats at this point. He was still waiting for another nosey response, it wouldn't come, Sue decided to back off, she played it like the mature one. They just weren't making any progress to make this worthwhile. This was too much of a distraction. Any indication of an interest Paulo had in the game was purely for something to poke fun at, she wouldn't expect anything more.

'You know what? Forget it. It's good that you're dedicating more time to…whatever it is you do with yourself.' She told him. She flicked open her exercise book. 'I'm moving onto chapter two, are you at that stage?'

Paulo needed a second to recollect his thoughts, 'I'm…yeah, I've just got to finish off this last question.' He repeated the questions' workings the exact same way as he remembered from before.

They finished at quarter to five, Sue didn't want Paulo around before her parents got home. That was fine with him. He knew at this stage she was using the laptop extensively to try and teach him. He would end up calling her out about it near the end of their study when they cooled down from the previous fight. It was hard for her to try to hide it. He didn't feel afraid at that stage to let her know he needed to read the basics again and not just crash into the more advanced stuff like it was expected of him. It meant they spent more time in the text book before working on the homework. Sue had already caught up in her work by the end. But it made him wonder if she ever really hosted a study group on her own before.

He just wanted to go home at this stage. He was exhausted, but happy that he had made some progress in getting him started. He could keep going tomorrow. He didn't know by the end of it whether Sue was satisfied with their progress as a group, but the progress he had made was enough of an inspiration that he might be able to make a start for real on his own.

He packed his text book into his bag and walked to the front of the door. Sue followed him up until he reached the door frame.

'Hey, Sue, I…' he struggled for a second. He wasn't quite sure what to say to show his appreciation. 'Thanks.'

She folded her arms, 'Really? Just _thanks_?' She asked, she had spent a little over four hours with him, she deserved a bit more than that.

He was taken aback at the reception. 'C'mon I just…' He stopped and reformed his words. 'I mean, Thanks… for being there, you know?' He didn't quite know what he meant there himself. But it would be enough for her, he hoped.

He felt unnerved as she studied him closer, but she drew half a smile at him. 'You're welcome. I'm sorry we couldn't go on for longer. If you told me you were that far back in your studies earlier I would have listened, really. Hopefully the cheat-sheet I gave you finds some use. If you're up for it, maybe we can consider organise another session sometime if you're still having trouble.'

He returned the smile as sincerely as he could and closed the door behind himself. _Another lecture session, you mean?_ He thought to himself. He walked home.

* * *

Paulo's father would arrive home rather late in the evening, it just came with the territory of the work he did. As late as it was when Paulo walked through the front door, there was still some time left over for him to be able to go through the notes Sue gave him before he would need to start on dinner. Paulo had always cooked for his father when he learned how to, it was only way of being able to give something back to him, it was the only way he knew how to.

His attention returned to the notes that Sue had provided him. With this and the work he accomplished today, he could catch up to the rest of the class in Math by the end of the week. He'd accomplish this, he needed to.

His alarm clock beeped at him, now he really had to get started on dinner. He made his way out of his room and through the hallway, then he caught his reflection in the bathroom mirror. He stopped when he saw it, where did the smile come from? He hadn't been able to find himself smiling since…well, the previous year.

It was a nice feeling.

He observed his reflection again, then thought back to when both he and Susan fought at her place. He didn't know what compelled him to do what he did, but it made his stomach turn. He had no idea why he even wanted to read the game's chat logs, he knew he didn't really have an interest in her roleplay game. It was an invasion of her privacy, he had no right to do it.

He had to admit though, it looked like they were having fun together. He wouldn't know what that felt like, it was a distant memory.

Sue had offered another study session, but was she just being nice? He couldn't imagine her being serious about it. He'd made a mess of things.

He was certain that would be the last time they would study together.

* * *

Sue retreated from the game to the real world and scanned over the browser history logs once the game night wound down. She did so only because one of her friends had suggested the outrageous idea that Paulo would do something as nefarious as plant something on her computer without her knowledge. Sue talked down the possibility, Paulo wasn't smart enough to do such a thing, but she couldn't be too careful.

 _It wasn't being mean, was it?_ She wondered to herself as she scrolled through the list back to earlier in the day, after all she had just finished giving him _some_ credit. She reassured herself she was just making sure she wasn't wrong herself, it lessened the risk after all. If there was anything she learned from Lucy, she could be surprised.

Nothing seemed too out of place, he just searched for things that were more deliberate than the things she was searching for back during the study session. She didn't know how she could use that in the future. He didn't do too badly himself when they studied. If anything, they just didn't work well together, but she expected this.

As she got up from her seat, she stubbed her toe on one of the legs of the table. She caught herself in the middle of a swear, her mother did too, and her name echoed through the house. How embarrassing, _this_ was not who she was.

Surely the feeling inside her from the day before was sated. Things would be back to normal tomorrow.


	5. Daydreamer

A new school week started at Roseville High and David had managed to track down Paulo in the unlikeliest of places during break; the school Library. Paulo had been there for most of the period leading into lunch, so he entertained the notion of catching up as David sat next to him. They talked for a bit about TV shows, when it came to talking about girls, as it usually did (or at least, Paulo's endeavours), Paulo clamed shut. 'I really don't want to talk about that, man. It's over as far as anyone can tell.' He told him.

'Aw, come on, is there seriously no one else?' David asked, Paulo shook his head. Rachel really was his last and he didn't really attempt to pursue anyone else. Paulo felt hurt thinking about it. David thought about Paulo's reaction, then had a realisation. 'Whoa, she doesn't even ring anymore?'

 _I guess we're really going there._ Paulo sighed to himself. 'No, she does. Sometimes when she's not too busy with University. But it turns into a drought. She isn't on the phone for long either. I can't blame her, university must be tough.'

* * *

At Rachel's graduation, she and Paulo would break up for good. Although, it wasn't a break-up per se; they were never really going out, but it was the closest thing to a relationship he had held since Jasmine, or Tess for that matter. Rachel was good to him and stuck by his side. There were some benefits on the side too, but they both started limiting that kind of interaction as the school year ended.

They both sat at the vacant lunch area. Rachel was still in her gown, clutching her diploma. His heart sank in his chest, it really hurt. He remembered when Tess graduated as well, that hurt too back then. He knew he'd need to let go, but it was harder every time. A niggling feeling in the back of his mind didn't want to say goodbye here either. He held back tears the best he could, but the smallest prod to his heart would release it all. They had embraced, Rachel was the first one to let go.

'Well. We all knew it would come to this eventually.' Rachel said solemnly. She struggled to hold back tears herself, she didn't want to leave but opportunity called elsewhere. Paulo wouldn't keep her from that. 'You know I'm going to miss you a lot.' She told him.

He met her concern sincerely with smile, 'Yeah, same here.' the dam was breaking. He tried to keep it up. He tried to feel happy for her in the same way that he felt for Tess, but instead he started to feel conflicted and worse. He felt warm hands on each of his cheeks and blushed as Rachel lent in and kissed him quickly. They both stared into each other for a moment before both instinctively met meeting half way and locked lips. It was when Paulo moved his hand up through the inside of the graduation robe to her chest when her hand caught his, and she pulled away.

'Easy.' She told him. 'This will only make the goodbye harder...' She waited a second, '…That, and I still have a party to go to this evening and I don't want things getting messy.' She winked. They both couldn't help but laugh. She let go of his hand and hugged him again, her head felling onto his chest-tuff. 'The worst part about saying goodbye is I won't be around to see you grow up.' She gave a bit of a laugh. 'To think, years ago I never thought I would find a way to sympathise with Tessa, but I'm going to miss you.'

He made his mind up in that instant. He no longer felt conflicted. He wanted to tell her something; it was important. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He had to get this off his chest. But then his thoughts went elsewhere and opposing feelings betrayed him. He held onto her, _this was fine as it was,_ he thought.

He walked her to Jessica's car. They embraced a final time before Madison became sick of him. Rachel didn't stop waving until he was out of sight, the same was true for Paulo.

In that moment, Jessica, Matt, Madison, and Rachel all moved on. Paulo had cried himself to sleep that night.

* * *

Paulo caught himself staring into nothingness, before realising David had walked off in the meantime. He looked around from where he sat, he certainly couldn't see him; the idea was laughable, David had such a height advantage anyone could recognize. _Maybe he went to go look for a comic to read?_ He wondered. David didn't necessarily like to study during lunch hours. It meant more chances for stop-overs with his best bud.

Paulo begrudgingly returned attention to his English study, he grumbled at it. He started to wonder if he would ever get around to finishing the book in time. He put it off for long enough, he didn't like reading, he'd take a movie up any time he could, books were just so slow. He realised David could have helped him if he thought to ask. _Oh well, maybe next time when he comes back_.

When he opened the first few pages there was a feeling he was not familiar with, it was a curious feeling. He wondered what it was, was it just excitement to get the book finished as fast as possible? That felt like the right answer. He flicked through the pages, he sped-read as fast as he could. He reached chapter 3 before his fingers threw him back to the start of the book, and he…. started reading it again, much slower than before. He couldn't believe it. If he couldn't get through three of the chapters in the one hour there was not going to be a chance he could get onto this other work. He was still so far behind.

He tried to speed-read again, but his eyes betrayed him, and he started reading the book in his head, slowly as if to savour—

'I'd have thought "Beowolf" would have been more up your alley.' Sue questioned from his right. She had snuck in and stolen the seat David had previously occupied while Paulo was distracted.

Paulo replied casually, 'It would've been if I was quick enough to pick it up. These were all that were left.' He turned to face her, 'What do you want?' It came out blunt, his eyes widened a bit when he said it, he opened his mouth to try and fix it but he was too late; Sue reacted quicker.

'Trying to figure out what's going on inside of your head!' She yelled back at him before remembering where she was. She drew a few "shoosh-es" from people around her, most notably the head Librarian. Sue covered her face in embarrassment before continuing again somewhere between whispering and yelling, 'You told me you weren't dating people. Did you lie to me the other day?!'

Paulo's mouth was agape, what was going on?

'I didn't lie! I'm not dating anyone!' He matched her output, but at a lower volume level. He looked out towards the librarian, he was sure she wouldn't— oh, yes, she heard him; their eyes met and her index finger moved up to her lips. He felt his cheeks flush this time, it was his turn to be embarrassed. He looked around, their confrontation was drawing stares. _No. No! No! Who's spreading rumours?!_

He flipped his exercise book to the last page and hastily scrawled out a message, before passing the book to her. _Why do you care?_. She scowled back at him and snatched the pencil out from his hand and started writing under his question. He peered over and watched, she wrote slowly, but her handwriting was…nice, it was quite nice to watch, he wondered how many hours it took for her to write the draft of the play she did those few years ago? Hours? How about Days? Weeks? He noticed he was getting too far into it. He drove his attention elsewhere, around the library. He eyed off people staring in their direction, he didn't need rumours, he had enough problems of his own. Sue was finished when he felt the eraser of the pencil almost enter his nose. He looked down to the book and read Sue's writing, he felt his lungs inflate and snorted at the result.

He read it again; 'David came by and asked Amaya if she wanted to "ride off into the sunset with you".'

 _Holy shit. That's the funniest thing I've ever seen!_ He felt his lungs swell back up. He wanted to laugh so badly. He looked across at Sue, her reaction screamed death. Oh god. He needed this. He could get any girl in the school if he really, really tried. David starting with Amaya and Sue? The bottom rung? This was something on a whole new level altogether!

Sue grumbled in disgust as Paulo's face contorted. She stood up and turned ready to leave before Paulo's hand grabbed hers. She turned to face him but found the book shoved back into her face. She read the new line as it appeared under hers.

'I wouldn't look too deeply into it. You know how he tries to cheer me up.'

Paulo sighed in relief as Sue lowered her shoulders, her expression softened with it. She was utterly unimpressed at the response and realisation she was being made fun of by none other than David, but that was better considering her making a scene by leaving in a huff. _Juvenile, huh?_ Paulo imagined her thinking. David had such strange way of showing affection to friends when they were feeling down.

Sue felt like she should have known better. She sat back down and rest her head on her hand. Paulo half expected that she would have gotten up and left, her curiosity sated, the mystery of the universe was discovered; she'd been had. He didn't expect her to motion again for the pencil, he provided it. She wrote something new, again, slow.

'Were you free to study on the weekend?'

He gave it some thought, wrote, and returned the book.

'I'm on shift this weekend. Might have to give it a miss.'

Did he really have to lie?

'Another time then. Sorry for earlier.'

When Paulo's eyes went up to hers, she smiled to him for a brief second and handed back the pen. As she got up to leave, she felt Paulo's hand on her left arm again keeping her from leaving. He pushed the book back into her face, grinning as he did so.

'Make David Romeo in your next play.'

Sue rolled her eyes and pulled away. The moment had longed passed. He released his grip and watched her as she made her way to the front, but he swore as she made her way through she glared at each person who had stared in her direction until she was completely out of sight.

 _Finally,_ he thought to himself; _Alone_.

* * *

Paulo squared with David later that afternoon. Thankfully, David had stopped after asking a few people after Amaya and Sue. Two of which were people that he didn't even know, and he doubt they'd look for him in turn either. He chose not to let it worry him. David had to abandon the entire task altogether when he attempted to serenade Abbey, whom he didn't even recognize from behind. He ran as soon as he realised and feared for his life. Abbey never forgave Paulo, he was far too arrogant. Paulo chuckled thinking back to today from his bed.

His thoughts drifted to the novel he would manage to get to chapter three by the end of the day, he could possibly get into the middle of it by the evening. Then he could start the assignment early. He reached over from where he lay over into the bag and fished for the book. Once he thought he had it, he lifted it out, but realised he grabbed the exercise book from the Library by mistake. He was about to drop it when he thought about it for a moment, and bought it over to himself, he opened the last page again where he and Sue had put down their thoughts. He read over it several times.

 _It was mean,_ his conscience rang out to him as he thought back to what he called Sue and Amaya. He didn't really take fancy to Amaya or Sue, not that he would completely shut out a chance to date one of them himself. He just… _handled_ them differently from everyone else. They were exceptions; one was a friend. The other… tried to act almost like she was his parent. He grew repulsed at the idea; Sue being his mother. Could you imagine? But he had given thought to both he and Sue being something, once. Though it wouldn't go too far from being just a thought, Sue had a lot of qualities that were appealing to him, but she just came across as a bit of a showboat.

Still, it was nice she had tried to set up another study session with him, even after what happened at her place. He felt a tinge of regret, if he wasn't too dead-set on the idea of studying on his own completely, he might even have taken up her offer. Maybe they would have warmed up to each other. It wasn't like Lucy didn't warm up to him at all back during high school after he was such a prat in middle school, and Rachel herself gave him some leniency when he did the wrong thing in front of her.

He sighed to himself and studied the page.

'This reads a lot like a chat window.'


	6. A debt

As the weekend came around, Paulo went and spoiled himself as soon as he got off his shift. It wasn't often that he did, but he figured this really was the piece of the puzzle that was missing. He walked through his bedroom door and put the box down on his bed, stripping out the cardboard and pulling out his brand-new laptop. He breathed in the fresh aroma before putting it down on the desk; it smelt new and very wondrous. He'd gone with the same model laptop Sue had, they had been popular models and everyone seemed to own one. He wanted it to have some longevity, so he picked up the model that came with _discrete graphics_ \- whatever that really meant.

Paulo's laptop would be the first computer in the family. His dad earned enough to keep a roof over their head, but not enough for luxuries. Paulo didn't make that much on his own as a teenager either, half went to his father. The results of saving and not spending where possible meant he had pooled up a modest sum that he had originally been saving for a car. That no longer became a priority given circumstances. It would cost him months to recoup the money, but then again, he only wanted the car so friends could rely on him more. He couldn't quite remember why. Well, so much for that anyway.

It wouldn't be the only expense he'd make, he felt he needed something with access to the internet so he bought a modest cell phone when the year started. It wasn't outlandish, it paled in comparison to Mike's phone, but he didn't need all the gimmicks. It made text messages and could make calls, and it had a web browser (although, an unsupported one). That really was all that he needed. He could tether the laptop to the phone and use the connection from there. It wasn't the best solution, but it would work for him. Everything was set up that late afternoon.

Paulo tossed his wallet up onto the desk and watched two sheets of paper fall out. The gears began to turn in his head. _Oh Shit!_ He had forgotten about those. Amaya had given them to him at some point; half-off per person at the cinemas as some part of a promotional event during the holidays. He picked one up and read over it into the fine-print. _Surely these had expired. No! Expiring tomorrow!_ he realised as he read into them.

It would be a drag to let them go to waste. He couldn't remember the last time he went to the cinemas. But he'd already spent a huge amount of money on the laptop and phone, and he hadn't even started to use it yet. He turned to his books. He supposed he could just study tonight, but Amaya really went out of her way here!

He felt a tinge of regret, Amaya had saved these particularly for him. He enjoyed movies. The occasion was ill-timed, but…. _Ah, screw it!_ When was the last time he had fun for a change?

He read over the coupon's use again, his gut twisted; the coupons had to be used in a pair. This was a bit of a conundrum. Was there anyone who would be particularly free? He used the computer to search what was playing at the cinemas and tried to call David at the same time. The phone rang on for a bit until he noticed something peculiar about what was being shown and hung up the phone. There was a thought, his conscience agreed with it. He punched a different set of numbers into his phone, and waited.

'Hello?' the voice came back.

* * *

Paulo found himself from out the front of the cinemas that evening, he was early. He wore something different, nothing _too_ formal but nice for the occasion. It was a particularly busy evening out in town, he couldn't recall the last time he'd been as outgoing himself. He took his time observing the traffic until he noticed a car slow down and park a little up the road. He could just make out the two occupants converse for a few seconds before the passenger door opened and a girl with cream coloured fur popped out. She said goodbye to her mother as she shut the door before turning across and walking up to him.

Paulo studied her quickly, _Really?_ _You decided to wear—…You know what?_ He stopped short, it just wasn't worth it. Sue had no concept of what the level just under a "date" was. He smiled as she walked up to him, and studied him in return.

'You know, I thought we agreed this wasn't going to be a date.' She reminded him.

His smile disappeared. 'It's not a date.' he reaffirmed; 'This is really all I had. Are you ready to go inside?' They walked together to the front door, he would hold it open to let her inside. As he did so, Sue turned to wave her mother off, Paulo almost did the same when he caught himself, Sue turned to catch him as well.

'Stop that. You'll seriously give her ideas!' Sue hissed. He felt the weight of his arm drop to his side, and she walked through the entrance of the cinema. It really had been too long. He tried to forget it even happened as he walked inside close behind her.

 _Could be in for a hell of a night either way_ , Paulo jest to himself.

It was an interesting situation he found himself in to say the least. His original plan was to invite Sue to the cinemas as a better "Thank-you" for helping him a week ago than the crappy one he gave at the time. The idea, however, was that she would otherwise _refuse_ , but would thank him for the thought. And then that would be that! The debt would be paid. He wouldn't need to owe her any further. The mere thought would be enough. There wasn't supposed to be a way in hell Sue would accept going to the movies on such short notice.

But she _accepted_! He just couldn't believe it. He cursed his luck. Sorry David! Maybe next time.

He stood beside her as she scanned the movie offerings on the displays above them. It would be her choice in the movie they'd watch, that was the deal he had worked out over the phone. He watched her eyes dart between each of the displays and began to wonder if any of these were of any interest to her as well. He didn't really know what was her preference was for that matter. He knew his; anything with action, blood, guts, and gore. He liked horror and thrillers too. He couldn't imagine Sue liking those himself. God, what would she like? Science Fiction? Documentaries? He didn't give it too much thought.

He took the time to appreciate the clothes Sue picked out for herself; Green sweater with some dark-brown pants. Honestly, he felt a little unimpressed. It would be said there wasn't much to the imagination. It wasn't anything that suggested anything more than two friends (heh) going to the cinema's together. She'd notice Paulo looking at her. Her hand dropped from her chin, she queried his interest with a 'What?'

'Is that the same outfit you wore to Rachel's party last year?' He asked.

Sue blushed and glared back. 'What if it is? This isn't a date! Remember!?'

'What're you—. Look, never mind, have you chosen a movie yet?' He didn't know why it felt like it should be treated as seriously as a date, he even agreed it wasn't. He decided to drop it there and then. Sue would be the last person he'd invite to a date, she just didn't seem as fun. It was just two friends going to the movies, nothing more.

Sue continued to glare up at him, before she moved her left hand and pointed up to the movie on the far left. Paulo let his eyes follow her hand to a bland looking poster with a group of people in medieval costumes. 'That one's supposed to be based off a fantasy book, I heard it did poorly with some critics because they likened it to other movies that came out ten years ago, but the movie rendition was supposed to be different.' She moved her finger and pointed to the other movie. 'Then there's this one to the right of it, that's more of a Romance-y Science Fiction movie, completely original, but I don't know if I would want to put my money against that myself.' Paulo started to feel less interested. These moves weren't the ones he'd been looking forward to. She didn't take notice and continued. 'That middle one is straight up romance.' She looked at him suggestively, 'Were thinking of _that one_?'

She was picking on him. He coughed, 'Well, I wouldn't say no but, it's your pick, Susan.' He reminded her. But he saw his moment and he couldn't resist, he said it as sly as ever, 'I mean, if you were interested in that one I wouldn't say no—'

She cut him off. 'Perfect, then we'll get our tickets and sit up the back row.' She winked at him before taking his arm and marching with him towards the registers. He almost tripped at how quick it happened. What's going on? That couldn't be the movie she picked. He tried to wiggle his hand out of her grip, but, god, she held on tight! Did she know he was being a dick to her on purpose? She had to have known!

Sue let go of his hand once they got to the counter, it pulsed from being squeezed too hard. He needed a moment, but Sue elbowed him to get him to hurry up, he opened his wallet and fished for the coupons and the money. He looked up and noticed who was on the front counter, of course, it couldn't have been anyone else, 'This isn't—', He tried to say, but Amaya drew her hand up to her lips and drew her fingers across her mouth, as if to say ' _Your secret's safe with me'._

 _For your sake, it better be!_ Paulo thought back.

'Hi Amaya, can we get two student tickets to _Lair of the Dragons_?' Sue asked her.

Paulo turned to Sue, he was confused. 'Wasn't that the first one? I thought you weren't interested in that one.'

She snorted at him, 'Oh, god Paulo, did you really think I'd come to the cinemas to watch a romance movie with you?' Paulo stared at her blankly. He had to admit, he prepared for that quip, he just wasn't prepared to be made fun of in the way she did it. It was condescending enough it would have hurt more if he almost didn't expect it to come from anyone other than Sue.

Sue reached and accepted the tickets, and thanked Amaya before walking in the direction of the room. Paulo could only stare mouth agape until he felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned towards a smiling, but slightly worried Amaya. He realised he was holding up the queue, and dawdled after Sue. He wouldn't really know what Amaya really wanted to say to him right then, but the smile bought up his mood a little bit, despite the wound.

He would have expected it from Lucy too. B _oy_ , Paulo figured, did that wound cut deep.

Paulo wouldn't miss on getting a box of popcorn and took it in with him, the movie might suck, the company might suck, but at least the food wouldn't. He offered some to Sue out of the kindness of his heart but she put her hand up, obviously not too much of a fan of it. He was more than happy to have it all to himself. She would end up getting up from her seat part way through the movie and came back with her own box, but it was smaller and she misjudged how quick she would dig into it. Paulo's better half won out of the jousting tournament he held in his head and he ended up surrendering some of his into her popcorn box.

He would much enjoy the movie.


	7. A debt repaid

''What were the odds?' He couldn't contain his laughter; the entire neighbourhood could hear him; 'You picked the romance movie after all!'.

Sue grumbled at him as he reminded her, she looked off to the side and sighed to herself. Paulo thought she would have been furious with him but thankfully Sue decided to see the funny side of the whole thing when it was all said and done. She begrudgingly admitted she was fooled in the end; Paulo had failed to mention the coupons were a special event for a not-quite-valentines romance event, in September no less. _He was blameless_ , he told her, it just…happened to have slipped his mind while they were on the phone! All the movies on offer that night had some romance theme, they had also removed any indication of the event since it was the final week. She had read the _Lair of the Dragons_ book several times but didn't once care about the movie to see what they had changed. She would learn they had kept all the romance elements from the full trilogy, but half-baked and jammed them into a two-hour movie. When she had realised she was fooled she had expected Paulo's stupid face grinning at hers making her the elaborate joke of the evening. But that never happened, she found him practically glued to the movie. He wouldn't notice her reaction.

Sue tried to think back and recall if she'd heard of the event from Amaya before. She might have, but it might have been the fact there was talk of needing to be a romantic couple that she chooses not to. Sue would glare at Amaya for he betrayal as they would head home that evening but Amaya could do nothing but smile and wave them off as they left. What was Amaya thinking letting her go into that movie? Sue lied to herself, she couldn't hold this against her, not ever against Amaya.

The result was still the same despite Sue's effort not to; Sue had gone with Paulo to watch a romance movie. It was unthinkable.

Neither would want to admit it openly, but they both had fun that evening. They only spoke about the movie as they walked home, there were adventures, there were dragons, there was a knight in shining armour….

'But talk about cliché,' she interjected. 'They focused more on the whole sex appeal than the character progression.'

'Was the book any better?' Paulo asked back curiously, he immediately regret asking as Sue's eyes lit up at the question. The walk turned into half hour of the franchise and fantasy medieval realms, the tropes, and how a story should be written. She even went on about it even after they had arrived and stood out the front of her house. A part of him wanted to phase out at her lecture, but he found he couldn't. Something about it was grabbing his attention. It was when Sue's phone rang in her purse when she realised where they were.

'Oh! Right! We've been out here for quite a while, haven't we?' she came to realise, 'Thank you for the night out. It was…good. I'll see you at school on Monday, I suppose.' She said with sincerity.

As she turned towards the house, Paulo's curiosity won over him. He thought to finally ask her, 'Do you think sometime, you could show me more of that online game?'

'WHAT?'

She didn't mean to say it so aloud, the question caught her completely off guard. The idea was immediately objectionable. Paulo interested in the roleplay game they played? For real? She turned to him again with a cruel grin. 'Really? You? An interest in roleplay?' She asked him. _What were the odds of this?_ She asked herself.

Paulo felt taken aback from the response, and a little offended to boot; wouldn't she have been at least somewhat accompanying at the idea he had an interest in something she liked? Was he wrong? He stood his ground, he bought his arms up to his side. 'I just want to kill things! I haven't played a game in years.'

'Just killing things is boring.' Sue replied. 'The game is meant to be played in a group and it's focused on storytelling. It's more fun in a group.' She was sure he could not have an interest in doing that sort of thing _._ There's no way he'd be that into the game, he'd drop it for sure.

Paulo set out to prove her wrong, 'I just write what my character is feeling, right? Then I can still do that!'

Sue thought it over; Paulo was hard to teach as it was, having an interest in the game was one thing but how much effort would she need to spend trying and teach him how to play for give it up a second later? She couldn't remember a time in all their years at school when Paulo could find the discipline to focus on something. He was never part of a club at school. But at the same time there weren't that many people on anymore and they were desperate for new people. With Mike going overseas and Abbey no longer playing himself, there was a lot less people Paulo could end up upsetting.

He started having second thoughts, maybe this wasn't a good idea after all. She wouldn't show him. Instead it appeared as if the sheer thought that Paulo had some interest in something Sue treasured had given her a rise. He didn't like it one bit. He turned to leave, 'You know what, never mind.' He said over his shoulder.

'Tomorrow.' She called back to him.

His ears rose in surprise, he stopped and turned to her. She continued. 'Tomorrow I'm heading to the library to get my book report done. I figure you haven't been able to do yours so you should come along for that.'

He was wary at the invitation, it wasn't an answer to his question. 'More studying? With you?' He asked her. She must have been joking. Although, it could have been worse, he considered; at least it wasn't blackmail.

She returned the same exasperated look back at him before she spieled on, 'You're asking for a lot, you know? Roleplay isn't something I can just simply teach you in one day; there's a lot of teamwork involved too. We try to keep to a schedule so the games are more fun. It won't be of any benefit to _me_ if you decide it's not for you the first time you play. Not to mention I would be pressed to boot you out of our group if you so much as did something as irritate the other players.' She took a deep breath. She needed to be honest with him. 'I don't mean to sound offensive when I say this either, Paulo. But you don't really have a reputation for keeping to things.' She watched as Paulo's expression soured, she quickly rushed to clarify; 'I'm talking about your _work ethic_ , not _Lucy_!'

He felt something within him snap. Being told he couldn't keep to things, _Lucy_ of all things, stuck a nerve, coming from Sue made it worse. It wasn't his fault. They were just a series of mistakes! He was angry, she had no right to judge him!

'Did you?!' He yelled back. It wasn't enough he felt insecure over actually accepting to have an interest over something that she enjoyed, but to be mistreated like this? To have _that_ bought up? To _hell_ with the whole idea, the game can go rot for all he cared. Sue can go rot as well. His blood boiled so much he couldn't hear her calling to him as he turned back towards the street and charged away. Then he ran.

She ran after him as he broke away from the front of her place and up the street. She didn't mean to imply Lucy. This needed to be fixed, but she couldn't manage to keep up with him, she wasn't wearing the right shoes that would let her. They were making things worse, she threw them off her feat the soonest she could. It would help her a fraction better, but once Paulo broke into a sprint himself he was completely untouchable. Sue had to stop against her wishes to, she was already out of breath. God, when did PE stop being important to her? Sports were not exactly her forte in middle school, but Paulo was just too much faster naturally.

Paulo disappeared into the darkness. She couldn't hear his footsteps over her gasps for air.

 _Smooth_ , she could only think to herself under her gasps for air. A part of her wanted to bring a hand up against her face. She didn't, her parents would ask where the mark came from. She hadn't forgotten the rejection from just a few months ago. She didn't want to try to remember the second time both Paulo and she were nearly at each other's throats over a friend. Sue had felt responsible for it. Lucy ended up being a sore spot for the two of them even at the mere mention of her name, albeit, in different ways.

Sue gave herself a minute before she made her way back home, picking up the shoes she had discarded onto the grass and snuck into her house through the front door. Her presence was known to her parents immediately as they watched movies in the living room, but she was already up the stairs to her room and out of their sight by the time they turned around to greet her.

As soon as she closed the door behind herself she went to inspect the damage to her shoes; it was safe to say they were ruined; they weren't designed for running. Were they that fragile? It was the first time she bothered to wear them. She let them drop out of her hands onto the carpet and stared at herself in the mirror. She was happy her parents didn't see her; she was a mess. Her makeup had begun to run and her hair was everywhere. You wouldn't have been able to tell that she had spent special care of it before going to the cinemas. What did that matter anyway? Paulo didn't seem to notice.

She found herself having difficulty sleeping that night; her heart weighed down heavily on her. She dreamed of the final week of their junior year.

* * *

Lucy told Sue her plans over the phone that night before she would sever her ties to the group of friends near the end of their junior year. Sue would listen, she would understand the concept, but she couldn't understand Lucy's motives. There didn't seem to be any reason behind it. She couldn't feel like she could commit to it, it could hurt the people around them. God, what about Paulo? He'd only been wishing for her to come back for the whole of the past year. Could she convince Lucy otherwise, could she just go with Lucy instead? Oh, no? That made Sue more troubled.

 _'_ You're put an awful lot of responsibility on me, Lucy. I don't think they'll listen.' Sue said to her.

'They'll listen.' Lucy reassured her. 'You'll be fine, I think they'll need someone like you.'

But they wouldn't listen. Lucy would crush Paulo's heart the next time they would meet alone. Sue would want to help him, but the glare Paulo gave her when she found him would keep her away for most of that year. She hated herself for not being able to convince Lucy otherwise.

Despite her best efforts to inspire the group, she couldn't get the group of friends to stay together. Friendships would begin to strain between one another, until one by one they all went in separate directions. Sue couldn't help but harbour a bit of anger towards Lucy, especially for having been put in that position in the first place. Friends shouldn't have to do that. She would also wonder if Paulo had blamed her for any of it at the time.

Last night likely confirmed he still did.


	8. Try again

The following Sunday morning, Sue found herself fighting to stay awake in the town Library. She had been there for a few hours already but was none the less struggling to make progress no matter how many times she re-read the whole chapter. She felt helpless at this stage, she didn't feel like the answers matched up to what was being expected in the assignment criteria. To complicate her further the events from last night still lingered there in her memory. She tried to keep it in the back of her head, she _would_ rise above it.

She put the book down and rubbed her eyes again. She wondered if she should just leave for a bit and go get something warm from the café across the road. _No,_ a part of her objected. _What if Paulo showed up and couldn't find her?_ _What would his reaction be like if he couldn't find her and thought he was set up? Could she risk making things as worse as they felt?_

She picked up her phone and checked the time, it was just after eleven. There weren't any new messages. It was getting futile at this point, she didn't know why she bothered checking them, there was just not a chance in hell Paulo would bother showing up, not since last night.

Sue picked up the book again and tried to read the last paragraph she was last at, but was interrupted by a black device being pushed into her face. She grabbed at the arm and tried to push it away, but when her eyes went to the owner, she could only let it go and sink in her seat. Paulo didn't appear amused.

'Are you responsible for this?' He asked her.

Sue was perplexed, she didn't send him anything. She took the phone from his hand and read the conversation. It was between him and Amaya; the later tearing into the former; she wouldn't forgive him unless he reconciled with Sue. It was surprising to Sue, she never saw Amaya so demanding herself. Was she doing this for her? Her ears fell flat when she turned to Paulo, 'Sorry', she told him. 'I did speak to Amaya this morning, but I didn't think she'd send you anything like this.' She watched him put his bag on the floor and sit in the seat next to hers. She returned to the phone and flicked her thumb down, speed-reading through the logs. Something caught her eye, she could only read part of it before Paulo realised and snatched it out of her hands. She was going to interject but realised how much of a hypocrite it would have made her out to be from the other week. He wouldn't let her think about it too deeply.

'And?' He asked.

 _And?_ Sue wondered, _what more is there left to say?_ She supposed there was just the one other thing; 'I miss Lucy too, you know.' She told him.

Paulo's expression softened. He pulled his bag up and bought out his books. It was not exactly the answer he was seeking himself, but he found solace in it, they wouldn't have to suffer alone. 'These book reports aren't going to write themselves, are they?' Sue nodded in agreement, they wouldn't.

* * *

They were quiet together for the first couple of hours, there was still an awkward atmosphere about them, the events of last night had not completely dissipated from either of their memories. The resulting admission they both missed their friend would work to their benefit somewhat; an idea they would come around knowing they both had hurt from it would inspire Paulo to try and cooperate a bit better than he had before. But Paulo had some misgivings about her he kept secret. They tried to work together constructively, even if Paulo had to push himself begrudgingly to.

It would have been easier on the two if they managed to pick the same book. It wasn't possible that Sue would have time to be able to cross-reference Paulo's work, or for Paulo to do the same with hers for completeness; there just wasn't as much time along with their other studies. They were at the mercy of getting it right the first time. Thankfully, Sue found herself able to concentrate since Paulo was in the same room, she could seat her worries in the back of her mind while he was here. She'd make this work, she had to.

The first revision of their reports was written up that mid-afternoon, Sue believed hers was under check even as her first draft. Paulo on the other hand, well…he just couldn't write a report worth a damn. He found himself sitting there taking Sue's lecture as she fine-combed through his own work. He'd be happier just passing. But Sue raked over the paper repeatedly until it matched up with the assessment criteria. She'd try to explain what he did wrong and ideas on how to make it better, at least she did well in this area. For the areas she couldn't fix, it was up to Paulo to tell her when happened in the book. She let Paulo write these in as she cross-referenced with what was said about the book online using her phone. The result was intriguing, Sue knew there couldn't be any doubt at this stage.

The library would close earlier on a Sunday. They had their drafts, they could work on improving further in their own time. Paulo had found he had missed an entire section worth of notes. He couldn't explain why he forgot to write down any notes about one of the chapters for the third time running, he shut up when he said it; that had slipped out. Sue would make a mental note of it.

Paulo put the last book of his in his bag and rest his head on his hand, it had been a long day. 'Learning how to do this kind of crap report is a lot like Algebra, what's the chance of ever needing to do this when you're an adult?' He whinged.

Sue wasn't exactly inclined to agree, she held onto the bright side of it, 'If you ever become a novelist or write a screenplay, it can help.'

He didn't want to agree to it initially, but it would explain how Sue was able to compose a play in the first place. Maybe there would be a point, he just didn't see a use yet. 'I suppose…' He replied It really had been a long day, he wondered how he'd spend the evening when he'd get home.

Sue mimicked the same action Paulo did, her hand supported her head off the table. 'I'm surprised you read that book several times already. I would've thought you'd only give that exception to comics.'

Paulo laughed at the idea. 'Only because I needed to.'

Sue wondered about it for a minute, 'That's a lie, isn't it?' She asked.

'What?'

'I mean you've read that book through for a third time, all your notes appear exactly as what happened in the book, apart from the chapter you didn't write anything about.' She told him. 'You keep forgetting to note things about that one chapter because you're that into the book! Why not just drop the act and admit it? There's nothing wrong with that.'

Paulo's ears flattened. Where did this come from suddenly? He couldn't have an interest in reading. 'What do you mean _drop the act?_ Really, I'm only doing this because I have to!'

Sue sighed, then lent back in her chair before counting it off her fingers; 'You're not dating. You work _sometimes_. Surely you do something else that'd be fun.' She told him. 'You're interested in this stuff, you wouldn't have asked about the game otherwise.'

'Well, yeah; it's a video game… who wouldn't want to kill things?' It wasn't convincing, after all, there were other games.

'And the roleplaying part?' She pressed.

Almost instant; 'Absolutely and horrifyingly nerdy.'

She was completely taken aback, 'I can't believe it, you're a _hypocrite!_ '

'Don't call me a hypocrite when _you_ can't even handle the idea of going out on a _date_!'

Her hand went straight to her face. 'What are you talking about?! We both _agreed_ to it not being a date! Was it supposed to be one!?' She squinted her eyes at him as she continued; 'Let's not forget an important fact, Paulo; you're the one who invited me to the movie, not the other way around. You were that wrapped up into it, you probably didn't even notice me get up from my seat.'

'Of course I did.'

'How many times then?'

'Once.'

'Twice.' She corrected.

'What, when?!'

'Before the climax. See, you didn't even notice!' She sat back in her seat. 'Ask Amaya if you don't even believe me.'

No. No, he won't admit it, a serious interest in the same nerdy shit that Sue enjoyed? You must be joking. 'How couldn't I? The ending was getting good. But I wasn't completely wrapped up in it, I at least noticed your hand getting very close to mine at least near the end.'

She blushed at the accusation, 'You were hogging the arm-rest!'

'Really? It was there for a good minute until you moved it yourself, explain that.' She went bright red, her eyes trailed away from Paulo's and back again.

'You even timed it? God you're inconsolable!'

He'd do anything to get away from it at this point. 'Seriously, if you wanted to hold hands and make out during the boring bits you only needed to let me know.'

She groaned and rolled her eyes. 'I am not that easy Paulo, it will take a lot more than sweet-talking for me to consider it a date, let alone with you.'

'I could only imagine what a frigid bitches' idea of romance would be.' He muttered

Sue grit her teeth, it was as flat as she could make it; 'Leave me alone.'

'Why won't _you_ leave _me_ alone?'

'Because you're the idiot who was crying on the floor of the Math class begging someone to help him, because he was too wrapped up in a fantasy of his own instead of looking at the bigger picture until it was too late.'

'If I knew you'd be on my case twenty-four-seven I'd have wished you never bothered turning around.' He snapped back. 'Hell, I half expected you to not return when you disappeared during the movie!'

They were hateful words, all through it. Sue had tried to be strong dealing with such an… ignoramus! She tried her best to put his words behind her as best she could, but her heart couldn't take any more of the pain, they were just too spiteful. Why did things have to be like this? Why did he have to say such awful things to her? She thought she was close to a discovery about him, but like he had been back at her house, Paulo was too defensive to try and accept his own feelings. She was certain of it; he enjoyed reading, he might enjoy other things that she liked too. But she'd never be able to find out, Paulo was just unable to talk to her about them.

She was furious that this is how he truly felt about her, after all this time. She wanted to scream at him, she really felt like she could just punch him in the face. She could match the furore of a certain white cat he held strong convictions for, would he relent under it if it was much more forceful? She thought it was what worked back in the classroom, but, it's happening like it did before!

Sue felt her anger subside amidst a realisation; was it a mistake? What if the real problem in this whole equation was her? She had lost her temper at him a few times over the month, what if the damage was done? What if it was done earlier? Was Paulo unable to come to terms with himself because of her? She wanted to tell him it was not what he thought it was. But she couldn't find the strength, it seeped out of her.

Sue dropped the persona. She'd failed him.

'Is that really how you feel about me?' She asked him, there was a short croak at the end, her heart started to falter. 'Why would you think I'd do such an awful thing yesterday? I wouldn't—. I only meant to try and help.'

Paulo couldn't find the means to reply, he just sort of…froze, like a doll that needed to be wound up. Sue took that in as quickly as she could. She had put up with a lot of shit from him for as long as she would have known him. She'd always find it in her to let it go, but this was the final straw. She could deal with the crap she got from him about the play, Fine, she'd admit it; it was rushed, flawed entirely. She poured her life into it to fix a bond between two friends. She thought it was perfect as-is, but it needed work. She was better than before now. Had he only gone to her house for his own entertainment? It hurt her inside, she tried to make things right, but this was too much to bear. She tried; she really, really tried.

Paulo could only watch her as she went for her bag and pulled it over her shoulder, she looked at him for a second before she disappeared out the front door.

Paulo only felt his strength begin to return to him as soon as she was out of sight, even then he couldn't bring himself to run after her. He could only concern himself with the immense hole forming in his conscience, it screamed murder at him along with a sleuth of other horrible-horrible things. He didn't know what overcame him, he didn't mean to say what he did, he just—, he just didn't want to—, oh god, this, this was not a good feeling. Where the _fuck_ did that even come from? As soon as it slipped out it was like all the life in his body just evaporated. He was amazed that nobody even investigated the—

He looked around from where he sat. Oh, no, they heard them both; there were a lot of odd looks. How utterly embarrassing, for a second time even. Should he just go home too? There was no way he knew he could fix this.

He picked up his bag and charged after her, something compelled him to try.


	9. The kindest intentions

Paulo ran out through the Library exit and found Sue some distance away up the street. There weren't many people out in town that afternoon, it took no time weaving through the narrow sidewalk to catch up but he couldn't find the inner strength to reach out to stop her. He hung back and trailed just a few steps behind, berating himself repeatedly inside his head as he did so. His chest had begun to hurt. He said a few bad things just before. Did he even realise what he said to her? What came over him?

That really wasn't him, was it?

He shook his head. Whatever that was back at the library that argued down Sue wasn't _him_ , he was certain of it. He didn't want to leave things like this, but he felt afraid at the thought of how much worse things could go. Deep down inside himself he really didn't want to lose another friend. He _wanted_ to fix this. Would she even give him the time to try and explain? He wouldn't blame her it if she didn't. He grew such a shitty attitude over the past couple of months. He didn't know why he asked her to help him back in the classroom weeks ago, but he was certain the reason wasn't what she thought it was.

He didn't understand why he couldn't find the means to stop her in the library. He lost a lot of friends for bad reasons, he didn't want to lose another over a movie.

Paulo was so preoccupied with himself he wasn't watching what was happening in front of him and almost ran into the back of Sue, she'd stopped in the middle of the street. It was when he saw her fists shaking at her sides his heart decided it just couldn't take it anymore. His hand found a place on her shoulder, 'I'm sorry Sue, I didn't mean what I said. Please, stop crying.'

Sue twisted around and swat his hand off her in one quick motion, 'Go away! You're _a fucking asshole!_ ' She snapped back. She bought her hand back around to wipe a tear before returning to him. 'I try to make up for everything and you still treat me like shit in return. Why do you have to hate me so much?'

Paulo was taken aback for a moment at the outburst, he never heard her swear before, even at him. She'd lose her temper at him a few times, but this was different! 'I—I don't hate you! I don't mean to! Really! It's just…' He struggled. God, making a girl cry was the worst, he never meant to let it get this bad, he sincerely thought that. 'You're always on my case! You're always probing into everything I do, why?'

'Because I care! You're just so fucking hard to ever get a straight answer out of. Why does it always need to be such a challenge to talk to you?!' She lost her temper, she'd had enough of his attitude. As much as she'd try to hide it, she was shaking, she was trying her hardest to be strong. 'You've never been more distant since Mike left and Lucy started hanging around a different crowd. I felt so responsible for Lucy, for so long. I—, I tried to stop her. But then she…, and I had to…I had to—' She sniffled, tears started swelling in her eyes. 'I just wanted you to talk to me like you used to with _them_. You've got other friends you can rely on, you know?! Even if you aren't willing to admit it!'

She unloaded everything, every word seemingly cut a hole right into him. He had no idea this is how she felt about him.

' _Friends I can…_ but you've grated against me every time we've been together! When we were at your house, when we were at the movies… you've chewed me out at any time you could!'

'I…I don't mean to! I just thought if I tried to act like someone I thought you'd relate better to you might open up to me!' Sue tried to explain.

He didn't understand what that meant, it didn't make sense. 'Why would you think—' A thought popped into his head, it took him back to months ago before their junior year ended. 'Because of Lucy?'

Sue nodded meekly.

He needed a moment to process it. 'No…no…God, Sue, dammit, anyone trying to act like Lucy would've been the last thing I'd want.'

Sue shrugged at him, 'I didn't know what else to do! You wouldn't talk to me any other way! I tried everything else before!' She complained.

It was an unavoidable thought. They never seemed to get along by themselves; Paulo had found Sue to be…unapproachable for the longest time; she had such a holier-than-thou attitude, they clashed horns in the past over differences between each other. He held a firm belief she never would have tried to bother about him if she could help it. He had his own reasons for never having been closer to her either. They were just too different.

 _But then again_ , a part inside of him wondered, it didn't stop her from trying to be being friends with others who _were_ different either; she was friends with Abbey after all, and they were both complete opposites. He would have thought for the longest time himself they would have been at each other's throats as much as he had been with Sue. But that wasn't right, was it? Abbey and Sue still played together online, he remembered Mike saying so.

His hands started to tremble. This was all starting to make less sense, he thought he was the last person on earth Sue would give a damn about. He really didn't expect her to turn around in the classroom, he didn't expect himself to leap out at her either, it just…happened! It was hard to accept Sue was acting like Lucy to get him to drop his guard, he already knew Sue had a bit of a temper, but he remembered the cinema, he remembered how that quip made him feel….

 _…And it was familiar._ His heart made him realise it. It couldn't have been. No! He refused to believe it! But his heart refused to take his side, it wanted to trust Sue; it betrayed him! He fought back as desperate as he could, he refused to accept it; his world made more sense that way. 'That's not true! I swear I would've—' He tried to tell her, but she wouldn't let him finish.

'You never have, Paulo! You shouldn't lie, especially to me; You didn't when Mike left, and you…you wouldn't let me with Lucy.'

His heart hurt from the words, there was a familiar sting he hadn't felt since weeks ago in the Math classroom. His heart couldn't take it anymore. He knew too; it was the truth. She was right; she was right there for him the day when Mike left. She would be one of the first to suspect what had happened when he didn't come in the next day. She ran into Haley in the hallways. Sue would find Paulo sobbing underneath the seats near the school's sports pitch, he found Haley sooner. She told him if she needed anything, she was only around the corner.

She wouldn't know he felt her presence on the other side of the wall, she did well not to break down in tears herself, at least, not there. He couldn't bring himself to do it but secretly he wished he'd let her help him.

He felt nauseous, his hand met his head. '…You said you knew about Lucy, didn't you?' He asked.

'I… I tried to find you. But I couldn't—.' She stammered.

He cut her off, 'I wouldn't have listened anyway.' he was pained to admit it; _afraid_ to _._ He read her face, her reaction meant he was right on the money. He felt a tear roll off his face; it was the truth, he was far too in love with Lucy to let anything come in between that. Even if Sue managed to find a way to get him to stop, there'd not be a chance he'd waver from trying to confess his feelings; he'd call Sue a liar, he'd hurt her feelings, and then Lucy would destroy his.

Sue tried to be there for him back there, Paulo knew this somewhere deep down inside, he just didn't have the guts to lie to himself anymore; his heart refused to bear with the pain, he'd become afraid of it; it always felt awful inside. He felt more fragile than usual when Rachel left; she was gentle with him, but now there wasn't that sense of comfort in his life anymore. It was the other reason he couldn't bring himself to seek Sue as an arm to cry on; she was always direct with him, he couldn't remember a time she was ever gentle, but then again; he never gave her a real chance anyway. Paulo never considered for a moment Sue could be a replacement for Mike and Rachel, instead he put his luck down on someone like Rachel re-entering his life. _Surely someone like them would come by eventually_ , he told himself.

But nobody did. In turn, he'd push everyone else away, he resolved himself to work on this on his own. He'd be all alone over the summer holidays wallowing in his own despair.

He didn't _have_ to be alone. He didn't _want_ to be alone anymore. He'd decided on that in the library minutes ago.

By the end of his junior year, he was an absolute mess inside. He had all these emotions and lingering feelings that he just couldn't get over by himself. There wasn't a single person left in town he felt like he could talk to about them; his best friend disappeared to another country, the person he thought he loved moved on, a person he knew he loved shattered his heart into a million pieces. He thought about talking to Daisy and David about them, but they were just different friends.

And there was Sue, wanting… _trying_ to be that someone for him. His heart melted at the idea. Why was she still trying to be so selfless with him? He remembered her differently, why did nothing seem to match up anymore?

It came from the heart, there was nothing to stop it. The feeling washed over him like a flood. He thought of the words she said back at the library. 'I never blamed you for anything last year.' He said to her, Sue's eyes returned to him at hearing the words, 'I didn't mean…I never meant whatever it looked like I implied at the library. I just…became scared. Everything's gone so wrong and I don't know who to trust anymore. I've been told I'm going to fail this year. Not a single person had a bit of faith in me. I don't want to lose another friend.' He choked.

He begged her for a final time, 'Please…don't abandon me too.'


	10. A different perspective

It was Friday again in the second week of her Senior year, Sue sat at the desk next to Paulo in Math. He wouldn't notice her; his attention didn't fray from his Math book. Sue believed this was fair given their circumstances, she wasn't sure if she really wanted him to notice her either; this right now wasn't her finest moment. She wondered deep down whether it was what it seemed; was he really focused in his book, or was he doing his best not to acknowledge her? It hurt when she thought of the second possibility, she felt she would not blame him if he did.

Math was the last class before the weekend. Sue had forced herself to drop down into the level under her usual class this year on that day. She thought she was doing quite well keeping her head above water with her studies, but with the Fellowship (she would never _DARE_ say such a thing in public) no more, it was more difficult for her to keep on excelling in those classes. She was already up to her ears in difficult work, now she had to spend it sitting next to a person she felt blamed her for everything that went wrong with last year. The indignity of it all, she couldn't have found her kryptonite at such a worse time; who would have thought the girl who held such a reputation for appearing smart was anything but? The act was convincing for a while, but she just couldn't be an appealing role model. Being here next to Paulo weighed heavily on what remained of her pride.

 _Failing_ wasn't always supposed to feel as bad as this, she felt she was smart enough to accept it as a way of life. She tried to come out of it optimistically as she could; _nothing was lost so long as she there was something to learn from_ , she would reassure herself. But she wouldn't count on losing a group of friends she wanted so desperately to be a part of since middle school. In their time of need, she just couldn't be that role model of them, for Paulo especially; she found herself helpless trying to lift his spirits. She was too fearful. She felt responsible for the mood he was in. If only she managed to get through to Lucy to abandon her plan, maybe then Lucy wouldn't have broken Paulo as badly as she did.

At that thought, she glanced over again towards Paulo, his attention didn't fray from the textbook. She wondered if Paulo felt the same way about Mike, did he ever get a chance to talk to him out of flying overseas? She remembered the rumour; _No, of course Paulo couldn't, he wouldn't get the chance._ That made her feel worse about it, she was given a chance!

She pulled out her notebooks to try and take her mind off it. The idea of hopping down a class was a painful consideration, but she suspected that people wouldn't really care in the long run, they had their own worries after all. She'd find herself right. She might have dropped down earlier, but she just didn't need the teasing from a certain someone.

It didn't matter, Paulo didn't acknowledge her presence anyway…

…and deep down inside she felt she couldn't take that; it killed her inside. She wanted to nudge him, let him know she was still there _regardless_ she'd be made fun of. Would he even acknowledge her? She just didn't know.

God, she wanted to cry.

Her attention found itself drawn to the front of the class. The teacher finally arrived. She would find a way to force the tears down. She would use this to distract herself to the best of her ability. _Let's try and make the best of this._ She reassured herself. She picked up her pen, opened her workbook, and got to work.

* * *

By the end of the class Sue had found it was what she had expected; just different work. She still struggled in places, she just couldn't escape it; she was just not as naturally bestowed as Mike and Daisy were at school. She could only feel split between admiration and jealousy of their talent even now. With a light sigh, she understood she would need to spend some time over the weekend to catch up. As she began to put everything back into her bag, she started thinking about what else she would do over the weekend, she looked forward to it; she made plans to work on the next line of quests for the video game she played with Amaya and Stacy. It was lonelier without Abbey or Mike, but they made do without them. They would all move on, friends would come and go as they got over the game.

When she thought of her friends, she remembered, and looked over again to Paulo. Her heart sank in her chest, he wasn't quite working as well as she'd suspected; he lay there, flat against the table, his work sheet under his arm. He must have fallen asleep at some point.

Sue didn't know what to do. She didn't know how she could help him. She was out of ideas. She would try to get closer to him as a friend a few years ago. But he always seemed to push her away. Even now with the way he was around everyone else at school, she felt powerless to try and lend him a hand. She wished there was something, it rubbed against her to think she couldn't do a single thing to help. She desperately wanted to try. But there was a feeling that lingered within her; like her inability to keep the group together, maybe there are just some things you just can't fix in life.

She stood up from her desk and threw her bag over her shoulder and made her way to the front of the classroom. Amaya waited for her, she smiled to Sue in greeting before looking behind her to Paulo. Sue turned around as well, before looking back to Amaya. She looked at Sue expectedly, but Sue could only shrug as if to say _what can I do_? They both continued to watch as Paulo looked forward from the desk to his paper now on the floor, before his head met the table again.

Sue's heart couldn't take it, she thought to try.

She took off her bag and passed it to Amaya before turning back Paulo's direction. As she walked closer her legs started turning into jelly. _God_ , she only just realised then; she was terrified of him, it became worse the closer she got. She wasn't sure how he would react to her presence. She had an idea in her thoughts, she didn't feel it could be anything less than hurtful.

She gave out a sigh when she came across his homework on the floor, and to the footprint strewn across it. She retrieved it, but had a second thought and took it back to Amaya, replacing the one she put in her bag with the one with the footprint. She took her homework back to him, but she still didn't know what to do. Should she at least just say _Hi_? Should she put her hand up on his shoulder to let him know he wasn't alone? She wanted to do that. That felt like the better thing to do, she went to do it.

…But her nerves gave in, her heart dropped in her chest when Sue's fist did the talking for her; she jammed it between his arm and his face.

She cursed, _that wasn't supposed to happen!_ She needed to leave, _now!_ Her legs were like concrete, they didn't respond as quick at the idea of leaving in a hurry. She heard her name from behind her. She didn't hear it too clearly, but _it sounded angry_. She couldn't take it, she needed to leave, she needed to leave now! Feeling returned to her legs! But something grabbed her hand, and then she found herself falling backwards until the celling was in plain sight. She braced to hand on something hard, but the fall was different; softer.

The sound of the crash could be heard further up the hall. Amaya did her best to usher people on.

Sue got up from the ground as fast as she could. For a split-second she could have sworn Paulo threw himself between her and the desk as soon as he realised she could have been hurt. But she didn't think about it too much; being in a compromising situation with Paulo was likely to send the wrong idea to people who stared in, and it would upset Paulo. She rushed towards the door, only to stop as he wailed behind him. Her only thoughts were that she wanted to leave.

Her legs turned back into concrete when she heard words unheard of escape Paulo's lips. She turned around to him. It couldn't have been possible; Paulo asking _her_ for help? Her heart jumped. Yes, yes! Of course, she would! This was her chance, she could set things right! But a cold 'no' left her lips instead. A different side of her took over and threw Sue somewhere to the back of her own mind, a different personality altogether. She fought back, her legs planted themselves firmly where they stood, and she begged her other side to give it a chance. She watched him cry as she did so. She didn't want to see him cry, not again. The memories flooded back of the end of their junior year. She tried to put it behind her over the summer holidays, she'd dream about it. She just wanted to fix everything.

Her other side begrudgingly accepted. By the time she realised it, she turned back in front of Amaya. Amaya smiled at her, Sue smiled back, awkwardly. It could have gone better she supposed, but Paulo had returned to life. _That was enough for the moment,_ Sue thought.

As they walked through the hallway to the exit Sue couldn't explain where it came from, but she felt a skip in her walk as they made their way out. Today went better than expected.

* * *

The next day, Sue sat at the dining table staring at the clock worriedly; he was late. She took the time to vacuum the whole house earlier. Everything was spotless. She even did her bedroom regardless that was going to be out of bounds.

 _Shoot!_ Did she even give him her address? When was the last time she…No, she remembered; there never was a time she invited him over, they just weren't close enough friends.

She started to panic, it was nearly half an hour when they were supposed to meet up. Her phone rang, was that Paulo? No, it was Amaya, Sue blushed upon realising it, Amaya told her not to worry about it. It would seem Paulo had forgotten about the study session, he didn't even know where she lived. _This would be tough after all_ … Sue realised.

Paulo would arrive 20 minutes later, she waited from the front of her place, when she saw him running up she went to the door herself. She was going to berate him, there was only a couple of hours they could spend on studying before he needed to leave. But he didn't stop when she opened the door.

She felt dizzy, she found herself underneath him the next second. She didn't know what happened but he must have tripped on the step up onto the porch. His face was too close, _too close!_ She bought her foot up and kicked him off. When he regained consciousness too she asked him if anything hurt, his eye hurt a bit; Sue accidentally clocked him when he ran through the door. She wasn't expecting him to trip in, she rose her hands in defence and caught him in his eye. She apologised as she left the, and came back with a cooling pack from the freezer. She placed it on his eye, her hand touched a bit of his face. He blushed as his hand felt hers before moving to the ice pack. She helped him to his feet, it was going to be a long day.

* * *

Sue stared back at herself in the bathroom. She reprimanded herself. Not even two hours into their study session and Sue had already traded blows with Paulo. She couldn't exactly fault Paulo for all of it, he only reacted. _She_ instigated it by drilling the state of things this year into him, of course he knew he was in hot water, she didn't need to bring it up. She'd resolve to be more patient with him. She still shook from the confrontation, she'd be better, she needed to be.

Sue walked out of the bathroom and made her way back down the stairs. She watched him as he scrolled through the logs she kept of the game session they had at the end of May. She sighed, of course Paulo would stumble upon the game. She should have closed the program entirely; this was on her. She thought she would have become filled with anger, instead she felt disappointed in him, if not with just a tinge of pity. She didn't feel ashamed from the game, she never knew why he harboured such a complex against it.

There was a bit of grief during summer, a fight threatened to have the online group fall over, a few people would leave, but Sue managed to hold the most of it together. She only managed because she learned from a different experience; it would be earlier when Lucy put her in-charge of looking after everyone at the group's table when she decided to leave. The task was momentous, she didn't really know how to deal with an immense task, but Lucy had faith in her that she would pull it off. She tried to fill the gaps both she and Mike had left. She would get into a fight with Paulo over it. She couldn't help it. They'd fight, he'd go back to being grouchy and Daisy would do what she could to keep his spirits up. But when Sue delivered the coup-de-grace one day, Paulo did the unexpected; he walked away. And then everyone else followed.

She hated herself for it. The Fellowship she wanted to be a part of so desperately in middle school bought to an end, she blamed herself.

What Paulo was doing was inexcusable, she'd have to come down on him. And she did. They fought about it, but Sue began to suspect he had an interest in it. They'd fight again minutes later. This time Sue fell back in her seat as Paulo complained they needed to go slower. She was new to this still. She went to most of the study groups, she didn't host her own. The method she was using wasn't working. She apologised, they started again from the top.

* * *

 _It wasn't a date._

That's what she told herself despite doing her hair up and putting on a small amount of makeup. It wasn't overkill; they were just both going to the movies as friends. She wasn't expecting a phone call that late in the afternoon. She had a thought about saying _no_ to him just because it was so late of an invitation, but she told him _yes_ instead. Amaya was working and Stacy wouldn't be online that evening. She had nothing else to do that evening.

She looked over herself in the mirror. Was this a bit too much? She remembered she had shoes she had been dying to wear out to an occasion like this. She hesitated for a moment, it was Paulo she would be going out with, wouldn't she rather save the occasion for a better time; the real thing?

She put them on anyway. When would she get another chance, a few months from now?

The feeling lingered for her in a moment as she checked over herself in her reflection in the mirror; it felt nice, it was nice to be noticed.

* * *

 **Author notes:**

 **1/6**

 **I'm highly appreciative of the interest and engagement this story has been getting over the past couple of weeks. I'm unsure if this is the only area I'm provided with to interact with the reviews, but I am still here, I have just resumed work which is troubling the publishing of chapters. The upcoming chapter has taken weeks and had been subject to a total rewrite as I wasn't happy with it. Hopefully the quality of it is as consistent as I have tried to be throughout this project. The next couple of chapters may be in line for the same scrutiny and beefing. To make this worthwhile there are plans for some additional chapters that were not in the story originally, so please bear with me.**


	11. Jigsaw hearts

**Author's Note: After several iterations I don't think I can keep rewriting this whole chapter. I'm still not convinced I did as much as a good job as I had. But I wont hold it back at this stage from progressing the story.**

* * *

The jigsaw puzzle that was Paulo's world didn't quite make as much sense as it once had one short moment ago. He understood as much as he stared back onto it somewhere inside of him; it laid across a table, all in a familiar mess he had become used to by now. It was ever so far from completion. The picture it promised didn't come close to taking on a form he could recognise; the pieces were just too scattered for it to be coherent. A worrisome sorrow haunted him as he surveyed it; he couldn't have helped but believe it would stay in such a fragmented state for quite a while. Was it as the same for his friends? How far behind them was he exactly? Was it okay for it to be in such a state at this point in his life? He didn't have the answer. His questions continued to make the feelings inside of him feel more complex; he just wasn't sure about anything anymore. As he thought more about the pieces, a smile formed on his face despite the raging mixture of emotions; each piece that was here represented the world as he saw it, shaped by the things around him; family, experiences, and more importantly friends; all equally important, everything that mattered to Paulo and him alone. Everything within them were invaluable to him.

Sue was right, he never had to isolate himself from his friends.

Paulo's attention drew itself to several pieces which had lifted out from the place they once inhabited. His smile dissipated, overwhelmed by a soreness forming in his heart; it tried to warn him. His hands shook as they reached out and began to collect the rampant pieces. He bought them closer to inspect them, he could recognise them as knowledge he'd formed himself, but they didn't feel right as they once had. He noticed their shape had changed; they didn't appear to fit in anymore.

Why would they? Sue's words from moments before shook him to his core. The more he thought about those words came a realisation, and more pieces found themselves being reshaped. He could only watch as more pieces lifted from the place they once lived. He grew afraid at the result. The puzzle was already such a long way away from being completed and now nothing appeared to be as it seemed. He could do nothing but watch as the puzzle took on a form unlike what he was used to; unclear, unfamiliar. It didn't make sense looking at it. He didn't know where to start with it again.

For the second time in his life, he felt utterly lost.

Whatever remained of the shell Paulo had erected around himself and his feelings was no more; Sue's words didn't just cut its way into his view of his world, it cut deep into his soul; remorseless as she needed to be to try and wake some sense into him to make him realise he didn't have to be alone. She may have succeeded; he didn't really mean to cut everyone out of his life. He just didn't want to hurt anymore; not since Lucy. He had only spent the greater of his high-school years crushing over her, evermore so deeply in love with her even after she disappeared for the greater part of their sophomore year. Paulo had gone all-in on his heart, nothing would get in the way. Nothing else mattered so long as they were together. He'd find his way through life so long as she was beside him. But he didn't count on Lucy putting an end to it herself. There was shame, he had truly lost a lot leading towards that day. He had thought for a moment in his life some years ago he may have seen the picture from the puzzle, or at least a premonition, but he forgot what that was. He chose to listen to his heart instead. That became the worst part about the whole ordeal; his heart was the only aspect of himself he felt he could trust. But when Lucy drove the knife into him he didn't know whether he could bring himself to trust it again. The picture was gone, and so was his chances at a happier ending. He wasn't sure if he could forgive himself so easily for it.

Paulo shut himself away over the summer holidays as some punishment to himself. He only left his house when he needed to work. He was much too ashamed to front his friends. He was such a prideful creature, he had nothing; no picture, no Lucy, nothing to make up for everything long since. He wouldn't believe he deserved his friends. Had he really cared to notice, his friends would not have abandoned him; he might have noticed David and Daisy were showing up at Burgertron on some days through the weeks when they could, for a few minutes just to make sure he was okay. But they'd be none the wiser about what was really going on; how could they really tell when Paulo himself said he was fine? He drove such a convincing façade when clearly things were anything but. Behind the scenes he was destroying himself on the inside when they weren't in view. It may have continued like this had Sue not seen through it when she did. He didn't know when that was exactly, or why for that matter, but that fact alone continued to pick at Paulo. They locked horns so many times, why did she continue to try so hard with him? Why did she continue to see him as a friend when he would struggle to return the favour himself? Did it just have to have been Sue? Was there really no one else just as dedicated?

Paulo felt awful when that thought came up. Did these thoughts need to linger inside of him? It wasn't fair, especially to someone like Daisy; he knew her, he knew she'd try as hard as she could. She meant well to him, always. Maybe there was a reason for it? Maybe she thought he needed as much space as possible. Or maybe she was scared? He had yelled at her once. The memory played back in his head. God, he needed to fix his relationship with her the next time he'd see her. If only she was as aggressive as Sue had been.

As he thought of Sue, his heart hurt inside. He knew deep down inside it wasn't fair for her either. He was never fair to her; he'd bitch about it inside himself; _why Sue of all people?_ But here she was, telling him words that conflicted with his own knowledge. She wanted to be friends with him; despite their differences, despite their inability to work together. She wanted to be there all this time. The more he thought about it, the more the questions he didn't have the answers to begin to pile up.

A mixture of guilt and terror began to build inside him at the prospect the very same Sue who stood in front of him was not the same Sue he thought of and said so many horrible things to so many years ago. She had taken on a whole different persona to try and get closer to him; an outright-objectionable idea to Paulo, but the only way she thought she could somehow get closer to him. Somewhere deep inside him he wondered if maybe it had some ingenuity behind it, he didn't think this could all start from being clocked in the head with her homework. He knew, of course; he didn't imagine the footprint. It set off the guilt in his heart. Why was he such an asshole to her? He had completely confused her for something else. He was so sorry to her. He didn't feel he deserved this kindness and commitment.

Back in the real world, Sue would have the same thoughts at that moment. It was hard for her to admit it but she had done all she could up to this stage. Paulo was too reluctant to work with her, it caused nothing but heartache and the feeling of futility. Paulo had apologised to her, he asked her not to give up on him. But Sue shook her head when it was all said and done. Paulo was crestfallen, why did she change her mind?

'I've tried to help you, Paulo. I…I tried.' Sue told him. 'I didn't mean to pry so much into as I did back before, I really didn't mean to make it feel like I was hounding you! But every time I try to learn something about you, you push me away! You've got such a hostile attitude when I try to come close. I can't keep up with us going at each other's throats; friends shouldn't do this! Maybe...maybe you need time alone to yourself.'

Paulo felt the fear bubble inside him, he tried being on his own once before, it didn't help him; it made him worse. He didn't want to be alone, 'No. Please, I want to try again, I want to change everything! What do I need to do to convince you?' A desperation lingered in his voice as he begged her to stay.

Sue's shoulders dropped at the words; she didn't know, she really didn't know. Her heart was at its limit; it had been too much of an emotional day. Deep down she wanted to believe Paulo wanted to change. She really wanted to help him move forwards. But right now, all she just wanted to go home; she wanted to leave him with her heart's impression on his mind and return to it tomorrow when their heads were clearer. But as nice as it sounded in her head, her own heart found itself conflicted with the idea. She just couldn't. She remembered the one time she let Lucy be with her own thoughts about Mike years ago. She knew what Lucy had tried to do that one time. Paulo…. God, no; she didn't want a second occurrence of that either. It was such a bad time to try and give up now. Sue knew somewhere behind that attitude of his there was a side of Paulo he'd only once show to someone special to him. She couldn't work off his romantic interests and feelings, there had to be something else there that only _she_ could work off; maybe even something else even he'd be too scared to show to a romantic interest. She could only find that now, but she didn't know how. She tried so many times before and she never came any closer to it! Did this all just have to feel like some sort of game?!

It escaped from her and came from out of nowhere; 'Truth or Dare?'

Paulo's jaw dropped slightly agape when he heard it. Paulo could only stare back at her, convinced the world around him had gone mad. It wasn't just him after all. They hadn't played that since…Acapulco. 'What?' He asked her.

It took a second for Sue to realised what she said. She didn't mean to; it slipped out. Her hand met her face in embarrassment; it had gotten so bad she couldn't even stop the words she was thinking from leaking out. She didn't try to think about explaining it. The world's weight on her shoulders was already too much along with Paulo's expectation to prove his worth. She looked up at him again, 'Forget it…. look at least…at least tell me the truth about why you were so interested in that stupid game.' She felt ashamed at asking the question; everything seemed to go back to that game. Did that really have to be the only thing they both had in common?

Paulo mulled at the question. He understood the intent; Truth or Dare. Although, she only wanted the truth. A part of him felt sceptical about what she was asking for; he could lie, in fact, some part of him was telling him just to do so. He could give a half assed answer. Would he dare? What would she know if he did?

But he wouldn't; his heart wouldn't let him. The words were soft-spoken, something new from the Paulo Sue knew herself; 'I never gave it too much thought. It just seemed like something fun to do.' He admitted. 'I guess there might have been multiple reasons, but it's hard to think of which one meant the most.'

'What was most important about it? If…If you need more time I can wait! We can try again tomorrow if you'd feel better.' She told him.

He didn't want her to leave. He rushed to fix the puzzle in his head, the reason was in there somewhere but it wasn't any clearer to him; he needed more time, did it really need to be something they just didn't seem to have anymore? He tried to remember what he read in the logs, it felt nostalgic for some reason. He felt like he was there. He went with that feeling; 'It reminded me of the old days when everyone still used to have fun together. You might've been right back then; it didn't seem too different from the games David and I used to play back when we were kids. I kind'a remember those days fondly…and the ones where everyone was together.'

Sue hoped for some elated feelings at the words; her prediction rang true about Paulo's past and the game, but the feeling never came. She couldn't ignore the worried feeling inside of her; she struggled to remember a time herself when everyone had fun together herself. Someone was always at an expense when they were. Did their past need to have been so cruel? She returned a light smile to Paulo regardless. It was not the answer she was looking for, but Paulo did what she asked of him. But it was sad; it lacked the silver-lining she was looking for, nothing connected them both deeper. She began to have doubts about the whole thing; maybe she wasn't cut out for this, maybe she was just the wrong person for this after all.

She gave a light smile, 'Let's treat this like a starting point.' She tried to say cheerfully to him. 'We should just leave it all like this for today and come back to it all tomorrow. I'll leave it to you to decide when you want to study again. I'll be in the usual place at school.' She turned to leave. She couldn't do anything more at this point. There was nothing in her mind that could make this situation better. But she'd try tomorrow if she'd let him. She started to make her way home.

Paulo could do nothing but watch on as Sue made her way up the street. He only felt despair; it felt like back then. He really didn't want her to leave. Was that not the right answer she was looking for? There must have been something else in his heart, something else which had meaning. His desperation spoke for him; 'Sue, stop! There's more!' He didn't wait for her to turn around, 'I was jealous of it. I was jealous I was never invited to it myself. If I'd been… if I had only known way back at start of everything I swear things would've been different from the beginning between us!'

As he finished saying the words he turned home himself. He only managed a few short steps up the road where he came before he crashed against the side of the building they stood against. He let the tears roll down his face. It was all like back then; when he was with Lucy. The wrong words, the wrong feelings, and emotions. Why couldn't he just get anything right for a change? He felt himself starting to break down. He tried to distract himself, he thought about what he would do tonight; he'd message Amaya and let her know he tried as soon as he walked through the door, hopefully that might mend whatever remained of her opinion of him, though he could count himself out on any more favours from her for a while. He'd do some of his homework, make dinner, and then cry himself to sleep.

He started to hate himself again. He really didn't believe he deserve Sue's help. He'd try again on his own, like he promised. If he couldn't succeed in being able to work things out on his own this year, he'd at least just try to fix himself. Sue was right, he needed to help himself. There were more things to himself, he just needed to rediscover them.

He felt a hand softly rest on his shoulder. Paulo looked over his shoulder to find Sue, but he couldn't see her face. As he turned around to face her she fell into him and wrapped her arms around him in a tight embrace. 'Don't say anything. You need this more than I do.' She told him.

He felt himself melt inside, it had been such a long time, he'd forgotten how long it'd been since found himself on the receiving end of a hug. The weight just seemed to lift from the world. _It couldn't have been that simple._ He wondered, his thoughts went to Sue. He wrapped his arms around her as well, 'You shouldn't lie; you need this just as much'. He felt her response as she pulled herself in tighter to him to try and muffle her breathing as she cried.

Paulo had to deal with the truth; Lucy was gone, and he wouldn't ever know why. It just happened. He needed to overcome it. He needed to move on and live for himself for a change. He knew Lucy left some big task up to Sue, and she couldn't complete it. Sue wouldn't tell him what that was exactly. But he'd try to figure out what it was and return the favour. He only needed time. If only they knew each other's feelings earlier. Nothing was okay back at the start of the year as they both made it out to be. What fools they were.

When Sue believed she had finished she would eventually push back off Paulo. She looked up at Paulo, expecting something she would have earned it after all these months… _years_. Paulo knew what she was after; 'I meant what I said; if there was an option to start again from scratch and do it all again differently, I'd do it.' He told her. His pained face told her the rest of the message, _don't give up on me just yet, I can change. I'll try._

Neither had the power to turn back time, they couldn't somehow go back to middle school and do it all over. They'd have to forgive each other as best they could, and start over with renewed knowledge. Neither of them would have to go it alone.


	12. Ambition

Paulo walked with Sue back towards the direction of her house. He had offered to walk with her, not so much forgetting how late in the day it had become but because it felt like it was the right thing to do. Sue had initially refused, it would mean he would be late home himself and he would need to explain to his own parent why he was out so late. That didn't worry Paulo as much to deter him, it was normal for his father to come home late, even on a Sunday. If by chance his dad managed to get home before him…. well, Paulo supposed he could always lie to him. Sue gnashed her teeth when he told her about it; the idea was outrageous. She became adamant about him going home and not worrying about her. It was only a fifteen-minute walk. But Paulo had made his mind up, he told her he'd follow her anyway just to make sure.

 _Completely arrogant!_ Sue muttered to herself. He just refused to listen! She almost had no choice in the matter. He was almost like a lost pet. But the idea was comforting to her given what happened prior. She gave in, she told him to at least walk alongside her so he didn't come off looking like a stalker to anyone coming from the other direction.

Sue's hand would rub against his own during the journey. Paulo felt her pull it away, but it happened again a few short steps further down the road. He let his own hand push gently into hers that time. Sue didn't voice an objection, he looked over, there wasn't any reaction either; Sue just kept walking forward. Paulo wondered if this was in the lightest sense comforting to her, but a different opinion inside himself thought otherwise; he gently let go of her hand. There was still a fear inside of him; he was certain Sue still reserved some misgivings. He would need a while to forget about his previous attitude about her; he'd need to be more understanding and open to her about his own feelings. He couldn't take the interaction he did just before for granted, he realised. He was sure being able to hold her hand that one time was a 'this time only' moment between them. They were a long way away from being the kind of friends they wanted to be.

They would eventually reach her home. Paulo wasn't sure if there was anything that he could say or do at this point, they could only see each other at school tomorrow and start anew.

Sue thanked Paulo as they arrived. As she went ahead and stood on the porch of her house, she turned to him. 'I guess I'll see you tomorrow.' She told him, there wasn't anything more to add, she didn't want to make it any more awkward than it had been. She returned towards the door and put her hand on the door knob, then she remembered, and quickly retreated to her bag; flicking it off her shoulder and rummaging inside of it with a hand, before extracting an object and holding it out for him. 'Here, I wanted to lend this to you. I was going to lend it to you back at the library.'

Paulo took note of the cover as he took it off her hands, he recognised it. 'This is the book from the movie we saw last night?'

Sue twirled a finger in her hair when he asked. 'I thought you might be interested in what they had changed. I would've given you the book from last night but—'

'You're seriously giving me a dumb nerd book to read when I'm already got another book?' He grinned. She glared back, but before she could react further, his cheek disappeared; the grin softened into a sincere smile. He read her face contort into anger, it screamed death. Paulo apologised; he was only testing the waters. He understood she didn't like to be played like that; at least, with things she enjoyed. _No,_ he realised. _He'd need to stop doing that altogether._

He placed the book carefully in his bag like some sort of sacred relic and zipped it up right after. He didn't stand up immediately, but thought quickly again for a moment before standing. He still needed to know; 'Why did you bother?' He asked. Sue tilted her head in reply, Paulo continued, 'I've given you nothing but shit for as long as I can remember. I'm clearly not going to pass this year, but you were still there. Did Lucy put you up to it?'

Sue felt sad at the question, was it still not obvious at this stage? 'No, she didn't. I've always been there to help friends, Paulo.' He smiled at the response, she still considered him a friend even after everything. He supposed he just never noticed her before, was she just waiting for her time? The more he thought about it, the nicer it felt inside. He didn't know what part of him did it,,but his hands obliged, they gave her a light friendly push; Sue lost her footing and ended on the grass.

She didn't find it amusing at all. 'Paulo! What the hell!' She screamed.

'S-Sorry! I don't know what came over me!' He apologised. Of all the laziest excuses… He held his hand out to her to help her up. When she was back on her feet, she returned the favour in kind. When Paulo hit the grass, he couldn't help but stare back up at her. 'Holy— … _asshole_!'

'An eye for an eye. You didn't see that one coming, did you?' She mocked as she stood over him. He stared at her at the betrayal. He tried holding it but he just couldn't keep it inside of himself, he burst out laughing. Sue would join. Even if it was for such a small moment, it would be the first time they ever laughed at something together. When the laughter died down Paulo couldn't ignore the orange hue taking over the sky; the sun was setting. He would really be getting home late at this stage.

'I guess it's about time I start heading back myself' Paulo said, his duty was done, he escorted her home.

Sue looked out to the sunset. 'Well, you're going to be late no matter what time it is now, why not stay a little longer?' She asked him. Paulo looked to her as she held out her hand to help him back up.

* * *

Sue had been meaning to go inside ever since she got home, but she put it off. She didn't want to rush the sunset. It wasn't every day she found herself staring into the colourful shifting gradients. She found something peaceful about it, she savoured it, not having noticed previously before that there was something soothing. She peered over to Paulo who sat beside her on the porch, he did the same thing; resting his head on his hands staring into nothingness. She invited him to sit with her, the least likely person she would have thought of up to a point, but he agreed. She wondered if it shared any significance with him as well, or maybe he just wanted to stay with company. She knew he didn't want to go home, she kept with him as long as she could until he was happy again.

It was sad, this felt like it had some romantic significance. She didn't look too deeply into that feeling, she wouldn't let it be known either. It was fine like this as it was; with a friend.

'I'd be happy just getting a C-Minus this year, a bare-pass would be better than failing.' Paulo finally muttered to himself.

Sue scolded him on the spot, 'No, aim higher. You don't have an excuse not to give it your all.'

He struggled with the words inside himself, he still felt the urges to reject the words, so he tried desperately to convince himself otherwise. 'I'm just struggling to find the reason to try as hard.'

Sue thought about the words, she found it hard to inspire Paulo, it was always like this in the past. She told the truth just as it was back then, but…what would such a competitive kid at heart want to hear instead? A thought came to her, 'Just do it to prove to the world you can do it. You said earlier nobody has any faith in you to pass this year. Don't you want to prove them wrong?'

Paulo stared at her, 'You have absolutely no idea how much I want to rub it in their face.'

Sue smiled, 'Then make that your motivation; we'll prove the school wrong about you.'

'It still seems like a bit of a long shot. I'm still so far behind.' He said again, he still couldn't find the motivation to land higher than the pass.

Sue sighed, she wondered what Daisy would try to say to him to provide some inspiration. 'No. You can do it so long as you put your mind to it! You fine today, really! Tomorrow just show the teacher what you have and ask for any input, take any notes they give you about it, then next weekend let's meet up for study again. We'll finish them off and then start working towards mid-terms.'

Paulo was visibly shocked at the idea, 'M—Midterms? Already? The year only just started!' He complained.

'And…we're getting started early to prepare for it!' Sue continued. 'We'll meet in the library during lunch tomorrow and make up your study schedule so that you have a path to catch up with everyone else with, you were certain you were far back in our studies, so we'll focus on that!' She stopped. 'Don't make that face at me, Paulo. You have to make some sacrifices to catch up.' She put her hand on his arm. 'You'll be fine. You just need to show a bit of discipline with it.' He was quiet, somewhere in the back of his mind the words started to bite at him, he started to have doubts about himself again, but he felt Sue's arm rub against his shoulder, a light nudge. It caused him to look over to her smiling face, she was trying to be reassuring, like the message.

Paulo felt he was connected, he understood; he just needed to display the courage himself to work towards what he wanted. He wanted to prove everyone wrong about him, he really wanted to come out on top in a way. It felt nice hearing it from Sue, it was inspirational if anything _._ But he couldn't help but feel slightly worried. 'But you mostly worked on _my_ assignment today. I'm going to bring you down if this goes on for too much longer.'

'Never mind about that. We're going to get you an achievable outcome from this.'

He couldn't help but give a snicker, _did she just actually say that? How many years had it been?_ 'I can't wait to be shaken up by Sue.' He replied in jest. She blushed at it, she remembered why that catchphrase didn't quite work during their sophomore year. She groaned, that was it, the moment had passed, she had enough of him tonight.

'I'm going inside now.' She told him. As she got up, as her hands went up for the doorknob to the door, Paulo did as well she found his arms around her stomach, and he pushed into her in a hug. She let them stay like that for a second before she felt the need to have to push him off.

'You're getting a bit too close there. I made a bit of a concession for earlier.' She told him.

'Sorry.' he replied. 'That was just for everything. I couldn't count on a better friend.'

For someone who carried a no-contact rule, Sue responded with a tight hug of her own, reassurance that things would be OK between them from now on, and hopefully for the future. 'This is the last time we can openly hug like this. I don't want this becoming a distraction from school or your goal.' She told him. Paulo reluctantly nodded. They said their goodbyes, and Paulo turned towards home as Sue disappeared behind the front door.

* * *

As soon as the coast was clear, Sue quietly opened the door again and tip-toed up to the street and watched Paulo made his way home. She continued to watch him from behind a nearby tree until she couldn't make out his silhouette in the street lights.

Sue sighed. W _hat a day_ , she thought to herself. It had all almost ended in tragedy; two would-be acquaintances who never understood each other came close to putting a nail in each other's coffin's just a few hours ago. What would've happened if Paulo never followed her back at the library? She shook her head, it didn't matter; he followed her to make sure she would be okay after all. He cared somewhere deep down inside. Inside, she felt a bit of warmth thinking about it.

She didn't imagine things would have turned out so well despite earlier. To think she just wanted to leave him alone back in the classroom. But when she saw him crying on the floor, it took her back years, she didn't want anything like that happening again. Her hands went to her arms. It felt nice; the hug. It felt colder without them, but she wasn't sure if that was because it was getting closer to winter.

She went back inside and was going to help her mother cook dinner. Her mother had gone on ahead without her and made it early, Sue thought to just go to her room and see if Amaya was online.

She heard her mother call out just before she could leave the kitchen. 'So, who was that boy you were sitting with on the front porch?' Her mother asked.

Sue flinched a bit. 'Just a friend from school, you might remember him from a couple of years ago.' Sue told her.

'Ah, now I remember who he was again. Was that him at the movies too?' She started to chop some carrots on the counter. Sue started to turn to make her way up the stairs to her room, but her mother didn't quite finish; 'You should have at least had invited him stay for dinner.'

Sue's fur stood on end at the idea. 'Mother!'

'What?!' She asked back.

'We aren't like _that_.'

'Oh? I could have sworn I heard a lover's quarrel outside.'

'And that was definitely not like that.'

Her mother laughed, 'Huh, is that right?' Sue didn't know how to take that, she never raised the concept of boys around her mother, she usually didn't tell her anything about her life at all. 'What a shame, "Just a friend."' She repeated as Sue made for the doorway, 'You're maturing quite quickly, Sue.'

Sue groaned at it, she made her way up the stairs and went into her room. That night she thought about what her mother said, what did she mean? Wasn't she already mature?

* * *

Paulo spent a good half hour thinking back to the events of today from his bed, again staring up to the cracked ceiling above. He realised he didn't need to anymore, he lent over and grabbed his bag off the floor and fished for the novel Sue had given him to read. He opened it above him, that turned out to be a mistake as one hundred post-it notes slipped out of the book and fell everywhere. Some had looked like they'd been there for years, the adhesive had run dry, they were all in some disastrous handwriting. Was this her handwriting when she was younger? Did she know they were still there? He sifted through them all, most of them pointed to plot holes, and questions about the author. One note caught his eye.

'Romance is a challenge.' it read. He smiled as he read it.

He made his way through several chapters that evening before he put the book down and fell to sleep. He dreamed that night of where he wanted to be in life.


	13. Renewed

**Author's notes: This chapter replaces Renewed. The original ended on a cliffhanger which I thought felt tacky.**

'I'll be frank, this is one of the best drafts you've ever given me. Having said that, I'd remind you it would be the first. I'd like to say there are some things you need to fix, but I honestly can't see anything that's wrong with the structure of your report. . .which makes me need to remind you the school has a policy against plagiarism. Now, be honest; whose work is this really?'

It had come as a shock, Paulo's teacher, Mr. Noodle berated Paulo for plagiarism as he waved the paper back and forth towards Paulo. His heart had hurt at the words as they were said; a lot of sacrifice and tears were poured into that paper, all just to be sullied as a copy of someone else's work, immediately as the teacher reviewed the last few sentences. He felt a rage in his heart as he grew frustrated by the insinuation. He had read the book, several times in fact! He knew the answers that the assignment asked! And most of all, it undid all the turmoil of the last few days between him and a friend. He couldn't help but grit his teeth as his rage began to build up inside of him. . .

. . .but he let it subside within him a moment later when his thoughts went back to that one day weeks ago when he fell asleep in math, when it all began and there understood why this was happening. It made sense that a lot of the teachers had given up on him.

But he wanted the teacher to believe he was trying to make a change for the better.

He balled up his fists. 'It's mine! I didn't copy it.' He argued back.

Mr Noodle studied Paulo. He'd known this student for a number of years. He had been in all his classes ever since he was a freshman; naturally average, neither excelling and never really failing outright at the same time. Except for the last couple of weeks, everything of recent had been of poor effort. It was less than what others in his grade were producing. Up until now that seemed.

And yet, he was at a loss. He couldn't prove Paulo otherwise.

His attention went back to the draft Paulo had given to him. To the point, it was what he said earlier; there was nothing he could see that was wrong with it. Establishing this, he didn't believe for a second that a student such as Paulo was capable of pulling out such a rabbit out of his hat. He was adamant about that.

But still, a feeling lingered within Mr. Noodle and he still pondered at the possibility that he might in fact be wrong; Paulo was here, after all, in front of him with his draft. Paulo had never shown him a draft of his assignments, choosing to simply submit them as they were. Surely he wouldn't be silly enough to try and show him it and ask for recommendations to improve if it wasn't his own. Was this a prank? Was there a camera nearby filming him? Surely, there was a reason behind this.

When he looked at Paulo, he could see the fire in his eyes. Mr Noodle pondered about it. _Indeed,_ w _hat if?. . ._

That October Monday morning, Paulo had arrived uncharacteristically early at Roseville High. It would've been another week, the same as the old at Roseville, but unlike many of the ones before, there was an energy that hung about Paulo. He was going to follow Sue He wanted to mark that change in his heart in stone by following Sue's recommendation from yesterday to the letter; he'd get his draft checked over by their teacher, just as she told him to.

As he hung outside the staff room door, he couldn't bring himself to open it. His arm hung on the door handle, but didn't immediately twist and open it. He'd frozen as he began to pay attention to the butterflies in his stomach and gulped to himself at the question of how long it had actually been since he had been inside of the staff room? He couldn't remember a time. He couldn't help his head wonder at what the teachers would be thinking when he walked in. _What could he possibly be there for?_ _Was he here to receive an extension? Oh, well, at least he had the diligence to do it early rather than the last minute!_

His hand moved off the door knob and straight across his face. It actually hurt, he didn't know why he did it, but he resolved he needed to stop thinking like that. He wasn't going to leave without a recommendation to his book review.

His hand made its way back to the door handle, he twisted it, and the door opened. Peering inside, he spotted the silhouette of his English teacher in the back of the room. His teacher didn't immediately acknowledge his presence even when Paulo stood beside him, his attention set on the book in front of him. It was only until Paulo coughed did Mr. Noodles elicit a response. He apologised and agreed to review his draft, begrudgingly for a moment as the book was almost finished and the ending was just in sight. But a delay was necessary, it was his duty, after all, as a teacher at Roseville high to ensure his students were provided with the foundations they needed to succeed. But Mr. Noodle couldn't provide this without first questioning the draft paper as it were.

There was a problem with it, he didn't quite believe Paulo. His work was always a bit of a mess; a bit on the end of a D-Grade. This time, he didn't really see anything wrong with how it's been written. That peaked his curiosity, things just didn't seem to line up.

'Paulo…'

'Sir?'

'If you are lying—'

'I — I'm not lying!' Paulo interrupted. 'I mean it! I spent the entirety of my Sunday writing it up with Sue! You can ask her if you really don't believe me! She helped me write it!'

Noodle's brow rose with the name, 'With Susan, you say?' Well, now there may have been a little hope. Susan was a far better writer. This could explain a whole lot of inconsistencies. 'I sincerely hope she didn't write it for you?' He inquired again, clearly even the mention of Sue's name wasn't enough to distil the contempt against the paper.

Paulo shook his head. 'No she…she just gave me input on how to try to write as well as she does.' He leaned forward slightly over Mr Noodle's desk, it was as close to pleading before really getting on his knees and begging. 'I'm really trying, Sir. I mean it! Please tell me what more do I need to turn this into a passing grade?'

Mr. Noodles was quiet for a few seconds, before finally giving into the slightest of possibilities. The thought of taking his suggestion and asking Sue had crossed his mind, but Mr. Noodles realised he really couldn't. It left him with no choice. 'You only need to keep up this effort.' Mr. Noodles replied. 'Just get those last couple of chapter's done and you'll have a completed report.' He handed back the sheet of paper and retreated to his book. He expected Paulo to leave in that instant having all he really needed, but Paulo remained.

'And…if I wanted to go higher than a passing grade….' He asked again.

It would've been a lie if somewhere inside Mr Noodle there wasn't an ' _Oh-ho!'_ followed with his eyes lighting up at the question. 'You need to delve a bit further into the actors in your report, do more analysis into their behaviour.' He snatched the page back from Paulo while his other hand fished for a red pen. He let his hand flick around the printout as quick as it could, circling and writing notes, 'You can fit a bit more into the areas here, here and finish it off about here.' Sated with his handiwork he handed back the paper. He looked up towards his revitalised pupil, giving him a parting request; 'I'd like to see the finished draft before you submit it. That's all I can do, you'll have to do the rest.'

Paulo allowed himself to keep the same smile Mr. Noodles gave him and thanked him before turning towards the exit.

As Paulo left Mr. Noodle contemplated the sudden turn of events; the deadline for the assignment was weeks away, and Paulo was the first to have a nearly completed draft. He couldn't lie, where did this sudden change come from?

He returned to his book and finished off the last page he was reading before Paulo's interruption. He closed it shut. Overall, it wasn't a bad book. But he'd hoped it would've ended on a happier note; the long struggles of the hero ended with little return in the end. But that was fine considering; sometimes the unexpected happens. The hero appeared to be happier despite not having the best result. His thoughts went to Paulo as the book was put back into his drawer. He wondered if he had not been as inspiring to his students as the hero was in his book.

He'd try a little harder.

Paulo couldn't help but know even without seeing her that it could've only been Sue's finger pressing into his cheek during lunch in the cafeteria. What he didn't realise is that it had been there for a while, and she had called out to him several times. He was already far too gone until he stopped thinking about how he was going to fix his report. She'd known she had finally succeeded getting through when it caused him to snap out of his stupor.

'Excuse me, what are you doing?!' Paulo yelled.

'You're excused.' She replied witfully and pulled back off from across the right side of the table so she wasn't leaning over Amaya anymore. Amaya gleefully joined sitting between them after having been near pushed out of her seat. At the same time Paulo had felt a shoulder nudge him from his left; that was David, not actually wanting Paulo's attention, but digging into his food. It had become obvious at this point the new lunchtime arrangements were painfully tight at the new table. He'd been strategically placed between the people he'd call his best friends. Though Paulo wondered if it was only this way so he wouldn't run away, not that he'd really want to; he'd been asked if he wanted to have lunch with them. It was an invitation he felt he couldn't pass up considering.

Sue continued talking to him from her seat; 'Now that I finally have your undivided attention, did you do as I recommended and showed your draft to the teacher?'

'I did.' He confirmed.

Sue smiled broadly in response. 'Good! And?'

'And. . .that's basically it! Everything he told me was exactly how you put it yesterday. Though I had asked what I needed to do if I wanted to take my grade further.'

'How did he react?' She asked again.

He didn't know where to start, but he told her all about it, skipping the details of earlier that morning but what Mr. Noodle said to the letter. While he did so, he watched as Sue's grin got larger right up to the end.

'That's perfect! All according to plan!'

Paulo cocked his head to the side, 'What plan?'

' _The_ plan, Paulo. I can't do everything all on my own. You need to get make the teachers to renew their faith in you if we're going to get anywhere. If this year's going to work out, you'll need all the help and support you can afford.' She explained to him.

Paulo wasn't sure how to take that initially, he thought they were doing quite well by themselves. Did they really need them if between them the report was just that good? He thought about the whole point; Why win back the teacher's trust now? 'Can't you just continue to help me like you have been?' He asked.

'Oh, of course I will. I'd say I'm committed at this point. But I can't help you with _everything_. I'm not Daisy or Mike. But you need a safety-net for the classes we aren't in. If you keep up the look that you're trying to change, the teachers will do what they can to help.' She turned to place a book into her bag and caught Paulo still staring at her as if there was more. There was, she thought to remind him, '. . .by the way, we're still on for this weekend, you're not getting out of those — every Saturday and Sunday at the Library like we agreed.' He was about ready to protest. Did they agree to that? Did he have a choice? Before he could ask about it, but she looked down to his untouched food. 'Lunch's almost over, you're going to eat today, right?'

'Yes I am, _mom._ ' He moaned at her childishly. He felt her foot kick against his leg a second later. It didn't hurt, but he couldn't stop jumping in his seat as it connected and letting go of a noise David found funny. Paulo thought to return the favour but knowing there really wasn't much time left he chose not to. He really had his head in the clouds before. He went to his sandwich as he listened to David restart his antics from a few days ago in the library, and roll his eyes as his friend posed the question of whether Sue and Paulo were secretly dating. David had expected that Paulo would protect him from the pair of hands moving quickly from towards his neck from their side of the table, but didn't count on Paulo deciding not to involve himself as two of his besties went into a one-sided fight; David losing.

 _God…_ he thought, _he missed this_. When School began he started eating his lunch hidden underneath the seats on the sports ground, well away from anyone, isolated. Since Sue had invited him, he decided to try and re-join the group's table in the cafeteria. Truth was, he'd beg if he really needed to, though they knew they wouldn't try to make him.

He thought about it for a moment. It might have been possible Sue would've made him, had yesterday not happened. He wondered if his earlier self would've gone along with it.

Probably not.

He felt a nudge from David still urging Paulo to help him, but Paulo was too fixated on the new arrangements. It was enough of a shock when he had walked into the cafeteria only to find the usual table they had held last year didn't have the same group of faces he was familiar with. In fact, there wasn't a single member of the old group that were there. He didn't have long to dwell on it, as Sue's hand found itself on his shoulder as she stood beside him, having snuck from behind waiting for him to appear.

'Sad, huh?' She began, 'We ended up losing the large table. There wasn't much of a reason for such a small group of people to hold onto it, so we swapped with theirs, although I admit we really got the worst of the deal.' She turned him towards the corner of the lunch hall and Paulo followed the direction to a pathetically small table, enough to fit between four to five people. But that wasn't as important. He recognised the people seated there. She led him over, David moved the seat over so Paulo could sit between him and Amaya. It was a tight squeeze, he would have complained, but rubbing shoulders with the people who refused to let him go alone was with a feeling he hadn't felt in a long time, even if they were all fighting between themselves just now.

By then he had noticed Sue studying him as he sported the broadest smile across his face from the nostalgia, and he hung his head in embarrassment.

But he really missed this.

The bell sounded for the last couple of periods in the day, Paulo was about to leave before a hand grabbed his arm.

'Do you have a second?' Sue asked. He nodded, before realising he did so involuntarily. He watched as Sue waved goodbye to Amaya and David, and once they had disappeared, Sue moved closer towards him, pulling out a piece of paper from her bag as she did so and laying it on the table. Paulo recognised it as a calendar with weeks highlighted in different Fluro-pens and certain days circled in all manner of colours.

Sue continued. 'I started drafting up a plan for your study sessions. Assuming you're working some nights, we should concentrate the entirety of your Saturday and half of Sunday. Here, look.' She passed it across to him to read over. He felt his face contort from the lack of time to himself in the whole plan. He tried to groan but Sue stopped him. 'Don't start with that! There's a lot of work we need to catch up on. Sacrifices are going to be a harsh reality.'

Paulo sighed, 'I get it, I know. I've already spoken with my job and they're fine with me taking some reduced shifts. Though, I'll still need to work some Saturdays.'

'On those weeks, we'll arrange to do it on the entire Sunday then.'

Paulo groaned louder.

'Stop that!'

'Weekends are my favourite time of the week! A time to just, chill!' He howled before crumpling onto the table. Losing them was like losing a valuable piece of him. All in the while, Sue sighed to herself. She'd seen this coming.

'I'm sorry Paulo but you'll have to treat days off on weekends like a reward at this stage, any moment you're not studying is wasted time. No rest for the weary and all that.' Paulo didn't immediately return a response. She thought for a moment. 'Alright, fine. How about every Sunday I'll show you a bit of the game near the end of the session? And if you do well enough in your midterms maybe. . . just maybe, we can both play together.'

Sue knew Paulo's inaction was not a result of him not hearing her, but contemplating the terms. He rose his head, 'Deal.' He said.

Sue responded extended her hand towards him. 'Shake on it then. You're putting in as much effort in as possible until the midterms.' He did as he was told, and caught her hand following with one swing. Sue smiled once it was done. 'Then the contract is sealed. Now, we'd better go before we get in trouble.'

Paulo picked himself up from the table. 'Wait.' He called out, Sue turned around to him. 'About what you said earlier. . .about not being Daisy?'

'What about it?'

'You shouldn't do that, you know? You're fine as you are.' He said, scratching his cheek a little.

Sue blinked at him. It would have to be a first; Paulo providing some words of comfort, to her of all people. She thought about them for a short moment before making a 'snerk'-like noise at his support of her, causing Paulo to respond with 'What?'

'Sappy.' She told him. 'But it's true, I'm good. But I'm convinced I can teach you everything.' She turned to leave but stopped just before walking away. 'But…hey, that last part, the whole "do our best" thing? Keep that kind of energy about you. That's one of your best qualities.'

She charged off leaving Paulo feeling himself blush around the cheeks. He didn't know what to think of her comment. He picked up his books and walked to his next class.


	14. Unannounced guest

**Author's Note: This chapter replaces 'Remember'.**

He felt as if he'd forgotten something that winter's morning.

It wasn't that he'd forgotten to meet up at the Town Library and study until his brains fell out. As far as that plan was concerned Paulo had it covered and was keeping to his word like he promised — that's why he was up so goddamn early this morning, just as he had been about every weekend since the study sessions became a thing. It'd been several weeks since they enacted The Plan. It was unchanging. Uncompromised; every weekend, the town library, early, unfailing. Just Sue and himself, and several week's work of study to keep up with in a relatively short period of time, not including the short reprieves there were open when he was needed to fill a shift at Burgertron.

This had become his life since reuniting with his friends again. No, there was simply no way he could forget anything to do with The Plan. As tempting as it was to try and push the barriers in various directions, he dared not test Sue's patience.

 _Absolutely_ uncompromised.

He yawned loudly over the kitchen sink as he washed up from breakfast that morning. _Alone_ , for that matter; his father hadn't stuck around. It wasn't completely unnatural. He normally went out on a weekend, but it was unusual that he'd left much earlier that morning for a road trip to the next town over some few miles away. Paulo may have heard something been said about his grandmother and the reason for the trip from his father once he finished his portion of breakfast. He drew a blank — he couldn't remember the intricate details. He hadn't woken up completely. From what he did know, she hadn't kicked the bucket, so he wondered if it really could have really been anything important.

Of course it was important.

He felt some concern. He should have involved himself more. Family was one of the things that mattered, even if it were rare for his extended family to ever come by. Anything to do with grandma was uncommon. That was the way things were. If he was just a little more awake he might have attempted to try and persuade his dad to take him along as well. Then again, he wondered, the last time they went it wasn't at all productive. His dad probably thought it was better if his son went to his study sessions with his friend like he planned to. It would've been a good excuse to miss out on study this week, but _Paulo's great escape_ didn't happen this time either.

He closed his eyes and sighed deeply in disappointment. He opened them just long enough to catch him just a split-second from falling into the sink. This was starting to feel dangerous, he'd realised. Fatigue had been building from doing this every week in and out. A day to himself would be nice, but it wouldn't be today he thought again. He bought a wet hand up out of the sink and across his face. That didn't make him feel any more awake, his eyelids began to droop again. He needed more. He let the tap run and collected water between his hands and threw that back into himself, and immediately became an icicle.

'C—COLD!' He yelled. He'd forgotten exactly how long it took for the sink to warm up that morning. His hands were freezing. How didn't he notice how this was going to go? God, he felt like a total disaster. He bought the apron against himself and asked himself what deity he pissed off to warrant such bad turn of events from the get-go. But he was awake now, for better or for worse.

It would take some real getting used to, he admitted — the whole " _waking up before nine o' clock"_ thing, one of the many sacrifices and changes Sue deemed necessary for him to show he was serious, and for her to continue helping him. _Early to rise and early to bed,_ he remembered Sue telling him.

 _Completely detestable!_ A voice in his head echoed. Likely from the old Paulo who moaned a lot, along with a strong protest to call it quits and got ready to go back to bed. The thought of that rang bells in his head. He strongly considered it and started to feel sleepy again. He caught himself, shook his head and cursed his other self into the corner. The desire to graduate was stronger. He was not going to blow off the arrangement. Things _were_ getting better. Getting up earlier was a sacrifice that had to happen, and time was something they desperately needed. Not something the other him would have loved to hear but surely, they understood the accomplishment deep down. He hoped his father too would notice at some stage the gain's he'd been making.

He returned to the task at hand and took a moment to think back to the arrangement. He had to admit he had a brief expectation the others would join them at some stage. But this hadn't been the case, and for nothing short of a few reasons between them as Sue explained the week before when he asked. The main reason; and quite simply — Sue found it easier to do one-on-one sessions. This let her focus more of her attention on him and getting him up to speed. There wasn't anything unreasonable about it, it was also quite convenient so long as you didn't look too deeply into the other reason. That, regretfully, was that Paulo only had two friends who wouldn't make the atmosphere turn awkward. That would turn out to be Amaya and, naturally; David. While Amaya often studied with them at school in the library during lunch, she couldn't make it to the weekend sessions since she needed to work as well. David had never been invited, Sue's reason for that was because he was likely to goof off in Paulo's company. They didn't need the distraction (But Paulo would never mention the real reason between them both was that David was more than capable of studying well on his own, and Sue for that matter would _never_ admit it was _also_ because David was well ahead of them in their studies).

This already had consequences. In no time they'd become the _couple_ that always met up at the town library. Paulo had to deal with the jeering and snickering of those around them. He did his best to ignore it.

His old self persisted and protested the idea of going out today, urging himself to go back to sleep, and again he fought against it. This weekend was already turning out to be nothing different; it started with him fighting himself, doing what he needed to constantly remind himself every ounce of strength was needed. It became regimen. He would come to accept it in time, all he needed was a couple more weeks to let it dig in completely. Discipline where necessary. The end-result of the sacrifices was all he looked towards.

There has been some improvement in that arena already in that short amount of time as it turned out; the surprise pop quizzes showed some progressive improvement. He was getting better in places, they also revealed his flaws, which he took as much time needed to fix. He was making a new mark on his otherwise lacklustre academic record with keeping attentive in the classes. But time would tell whether the results would be worth it in the end. He felt his gut clench. The mid-semester tests were around the corner. He was prepared this time, wasn't he? Did they have enough time? He didn't want to let himself down again.

Or Susan for that matter . . .

He looked up to the clock on the wall and muttered various obscenities. He'd have to leave shortly. The library had already long since opened. Sue preferred he arrived just a half hour afterwards, that meant he had enough time to shower before he needed to high-tail it.

The other Paulo in his head chimed in and toyed with the idea of beating her to the library once for a change if he ran just to show her up just before the doors opened. He imagined how shocked she'd be. But then he thought how that could really turn against him; maybe she'd take it as granted, expecting him to do that from that point forward. It wasn't turning out to be a good idea, the cheeky part of him admitted — seeing it was done in, forfeiting, and returning to the corner of his thoughts where it belonged. The distraction finally deciding to leave him be, long enough to realise the plate he scrubbed simply couldn't become any cleaner than it had. He found it a place in the dish rack and started working on the one underneath it.

What would they work on today? He began to wonder. His shoulders dropped. He knew the answer, it wasn't a real surprise. They'd be cramming in as much as they could in preparation for the tests just before the holidays. Those certainly weren't going to be holidays either; Sue planned to spend those on the next chapters of studies in all their classes well long before the rest of the class would start. They'd be ready for the new school semester, like it or not.

Another sigh leaked out accompanying it. The knot in his gut felt the same feelings he had when Sue told him her plans before. It wasn't that he wanted his holidays to himself. He had to face it deep down inside — he was screwed; there'd be no chance in hell he'd be able to put off studying the whole me. But Sue should be doing more interesting things for herself than dealing with him day in, day out. He could study efficiently on his own now given the real chance. In fact, he tried to sell this to her before, but she wouldn't have it; _her sacrifice was going to be for his gain_ , she told him. She was in it all the way.

That got to him. Despite how happy it made him feel inside, the pressure was starting to get to him. If anything, she _needed_ a holiday, he decided. He held the plate forward in front of himself and watched his reflection in the plate for a moment, before bringing it down hard into the water, spraying it in all directions. He backed off and swore to himself for his stupidity before grabbing a dish cloth to soak up the spillage all over the counter.

He'd snapped — that had done it; he'd done well over the last couple of weeks supressing his real feelings for as long as he could. The mirror worked a great deal telling him he needed to change. But he was burning out; newer expectations were all starting to grow above the norm, the constant pressure was wearing him down. His dirty laundry needed _air_ , and it needed it _now_! He needed one as well; a holiday, damn it all! Away from _she who must be obeyed_! He argued with himself. His arm swung down ready to slam the plate into the dish rack but stopped just before it would've landed. And he lightly placed it into position. It felt good, there — letting loose for a moment. But he really didn't want to destroy the plate.

There were real problems with the arrangements.

Paulo had Sue had indeed become closer friends over the short number of weeks they began closely studying together. But some things between them didn't change, it still felt as difficult as it was years ago. Some days it simply felt like they were just tolerating each other just like back then.

Again — _closer_ friends than before, but he certainly didn't feel like they were any closer to being regarded as _close friends_.

He'd admit sometimes part of the error had laid with him most of the time; sometimes the old Paulo would rear its head and do something which would cause Sue to come down on him like a ton of bricks. He'd apologise. He deserved it. He aspired to do better. But. . .

He realised that didn't bug him as much as he thought it did inside. There was something else deep about this that bugged him _more._ He thought back to weeks ago. Back when they held an embrace on that side path that one dreary day. It felt like so long ago. Then it clicked. He'd realised, despite the crying and the hugging weeks before that one dreary evening, the friendship that evolved from that acted as if that episode never really happened in the first place. Instead their friendship was founded on a single commitment made by Sue to make sure Paulo would obtain an Achievable Outcome. He would graduate. He'd have to.

There wasn't a doubt deep down inside Paulo where he didn't deeply appreciate Sue's efforts. Truly, he did. He tried putting a positive spin on things; a better relationship _had_ formed between the two when things worked out in the end. They _appeared_ closer as far as things could be observed from the outside, but Paulo started to feel like certain elements that he was all too natural to just didn't appear to be there between them.

He'd realised what this was the other night. It took a couple of days for him to realise; they'd only ever seemed to speak to each other about their study.

Paulo was quite good at small talk but everything that went from how her day was to what she did that night somehow always turned into a question on how well his study was going. And there wasn't a problem with it coming from Amaya or David, but whenever it came from him, it was always a question on what he studied on and whether he could answer a question she could pull out of thin air, and only that.

Nothing more special than a tutor and their student — professional, and only.

He wished deep down it wasn't this complicated. He had wanted to break the ice at some stage, it was going to happen yesterday, only for him to back off at the last second once he realised he never really understood what he really expected from Sue in the first place. A conundrum to say the least.

He knew he didn't really want her all over him like some of his past lovers — there was never a chance in hell of that ever happening. He'd shot it down himself long ago – there were other girls at the time, he was quite convinced he wouldn't be able to stand her brattiness, and he was right in a way. There was never a thought it would work out, but he wasn't sure whether it was because of a lack of imagination or because he was convinced the attraction just didn't seem to exist. Not to mention it didn't ever look like there was an occasion where she could stand him much of the time, the only other person next to Maddison and Jessica back then. He felt they had their reasons, most of the time.

What else then? As tight of friends as he was with David? There were certainly few of those kinds of friends. Yet he struggled. Why was this so fucking difficult?! He was sure that _something_ should've blossomed when they were arm in arm over an old friend. There had to have been some deeper meaning in it, surely.

He didn't really want to believe this friendship was temporary. Only, _and only_ because it concerned something within her power to make such a drastic change. It really killed him inside when he thought about it. _What are you really getting out of this, Sue?_ He asked himself, w _hy are you dealing with this wasted effort?_

He wondered if he was looking into it too deeply. There was that chance, he'd done it before. Maybe the whole relationship was the way it was so it wasn't distracting. It was a professional friendship, different from the norm that he was used to. But all for the sake of him graduating.

It _had_ to be that. The results looked so good already, why ruin it?

So, he didn't confront her. Damned if the whole thing didn't eat at him all this time.

He'd have put more thought into what he'd wanted deep inside had he not been distracted by his phone letting him know someone had sent him a text message. He leant over and recognised the photo he put of Sue on the lock screen. It wasn't flattering, it was hard to ask Sue for a photo, so he took one when she wasn't waiting for it. He didn't think or say anything for the first few seconds, before the message began to register, and his grin got larger as the result set in. In the same instant by sheer coincidence the news on the TV advised of a fierce snowstorm was approaching Roseville. That too made it all the clearer, and his grin reached as far as it could.

' _Not meeting at library today_ ' Sue's message said aloud to him.

There was a moment of elation from this that ran through his mind for a moment. Was this good karma? It was! ' _It's a holiday'_ It rang back from inside himself. Today would be too dangerous for them to meet up at the library. It was likely they'd be sent home even if they tried! They wouldn't go to each other's houses because who knows how long it would last for!

A holiday!

Paulo processed it again in his mind, his heartbeat grew louder. It'd been far too long. What could he get up to? As if a revelation, the ideas began to roll in immediately. Oh, they were boundless! But it was already 8am, there was only so much time left in the day. Think of all the things he could catch up on? He could catch up on all the old comics David left—

He shook his head; What? Really? He asked himself. He'd read those almost a hundred times on his own already long before. He tried to think of something else. _Oh!_ He thought, how about that library book he rented that week. Actually, no; he wanted a break from reading. He thought about it again, he needed something more entertaining. He could go skateboarding.

 _Oh for crying out loud!_ He grew tired with all these boring ideas There was no chance in hell he could go skateboarding with that storm rolling in. God, was he stupid?! He didn't want his father to worry about him! It was safer indoors. But there was a problem, there really wasn't all that much he could do indoors. He had a laptop, maybe he could start playing the game Sue had been showing him?

He stopped and thought about it. He surely couldn't. He couldn't possibly do that. That would be breaching the agreement they made. He knew enough of the game to be able to start playing it. But. . . hell, _what if she found out?_ Could he play it without her not knowing?

His head hurt. For a day of relaxation, he was already stressing over it. A warn shower to start with would help jump start ideas, he believed. Though, it would have to happen now, or he'd have to give up on the idea once the snowstorm hit. The hot water system in his house worked but it wouldn't survive the cooler elements of the storm unless he wanted what could just barely pass as a lukewarm shower. The pipes weren't as well insulated. Neither was most of the house.

The washing was done. He pulled the plug and let the water drain as he turned back towards the living room and made his way up the stairs to the next floor. The floorboards underneath him creaked under his weight. He never usually paid attention to them, he's grown used to it. Everything felt thin, even the walls. He couldn't ignore the wind picking up outside either. If he was going to have the bear-minimum of a luxury to match the morning, he would need to get it started now.

A pause was necessary when he stood in the bath and turned the hot water on. Paulo prefered to wait a few seconds for the water to warm up before finally going under the jet stream. But that was too soon, he'd momentarily forgotten something critical about the boiler during winter and shrieked as ice cold water caught him off his guard down his back. He'd leapt forwards. Slowly returning to the warm water again. Embarrassing, to say the least. What a silly display. He'd die if anyone else was in the house at the time. Reliable hot water was a luxury he couldn't afford, much like everything else in this decrepit house. He hated it. He felt he and his father deserved better.

He returned under the stream, thoughts turned to what they could do to fix the problems that plagued their life. He didn't get too far, once the water began to massage into the back of his skull, the world's problems rolled off him like the very same droplets.

This was nirvana. Today would be the best day in his life.

'All right! Just a minute! I'll be right down!' Paulo called out.

 _Unbelievable_ \- unbelievable that it had happened. Completely unbelievable that he'd heard it from the shower, but it did to no surprise – another perk of the household. Funny enough, if anything hit the front door, say…someone knocking on it (as it happened just now!), it would travel through most of the household. He swore under his breath he twisted both taps until the water stopped. He hadn't been there for at least longer than fifteen minutes. Although, this might have been for the better; his father would have likely flipped at being in there for so long. . .were he home. It was a good time as any to get out.

Paulo yelled back as loud as he could again towards the front of the house while he quickly set to work on drying himself off. He hoped maybe there was a chance his voice would penetrate the walls in the same say the door does back, but it didn't seem too, the rapping on the door had changed from light knocking to almost sounding like someone throwing themselves up against it.

He wrapped the towel around himself and charged his way back through the house down the stairs, too concerned about who was trying to destroy his front door to notice he was already starting to shiver about how cold it had gotten, despite being naked, dripping wet and behind a towel. He'd notice the impracticality by the time he'd reached the front door. It'd be far cooler outside, but too late now.

'Who the hell is it?' He demanded.

'It's me! Can you let me in?' he heard a familiar voice from the other side of the door.

His heart dropped. There was a moment of disbelief. Then he let out a groan under his breath.

It couldn't have been.

No, _w_ hat in the hell was _she_ doing here?

 _What shitty luck!_ He thought. 'Can it wait a few minutes,' he yelled back through the front door. 'I've just had a shower and I'm not decent.'

There wasn't an answer for a second. 'It's fine! I won't look! Just let me in, quickly!'

God. The relationship couldn't get more awkward than this? That was _so_ not going to happen so long as he drew breath.

'Can you just give me a—' He tried to ask, but Sue screamed over him from the other side of the door.

'I'm serious! Just let me in already! IT'S RIGHT BEHIND ME!'

 _It?!_ What was _it?_ Did Sue get into a fight with a bird or something? The Storm? God. Right, the storm. That could explain why it was getting cooler now. He couldn't win. That's all there was to it; he just couldn't. If it had been Lucy, there wouldn't have been a second thought. It'd happened before. But with Sue, of all people . . . A _ugh!_ Perish the thought.

He wondered if he could make it up the stairs, get dry get back down as quick as he could. The storm couldn't be right on top of her. She'd have to have been over-reacting. Yeah, that had to be it! She was like that! There's enough time for him to get dried off and dressed.

He turned to the stairs but stopped after a step, what if she wasn't? Sue was hard enough to deal with when she was pissed off, even more so when all the wrath was directed solely at him. His house didn't have decent interior heating (again, another perk of the household). If she got sick, she'd never forgive him.

He just didn't think about it; in one quick motion he swung the front door open to see Sue standing on his front porch with her hands covering her eyes, and nothing behind her; the front yard and the road just seemed to disappear into white, for miles. He felt his heart miss a beat as soon as he saw it. He didn't need to do think to do anything else, the rest just happened as if instinct. He reached out and grabbed Sue's arm and threw her into the house behind him. He thought he heard her lose her footing and fall onto the carpet. He didn't have time to check, as his body instead twisted back to the door just long enough to see the wall of white coming ever so closer towards the footstep into the house. Nevermind the cold, his heart froze on the sight of the wall alone.

He slammed the door in response with such force he fell backwards. The next second the wind slammed against the house with an all-mighty _boom_. All the while, Paulo sat there, awestruck at what he just saw.

He waited until he could feel certain parts of him unfreeze, his heart being the more important of them. He remembered and turned his head to Sue. 'A—Are you okay?' He asked.

Sue had rolled around when he threw her inside. She hadn't moved a muscle since she'd stopped. In fact she faced away from him with her hands covering her face.

'Sue, What're you—' .

'I'm covering my face, isn't it obvious enough?' She yelled back, 'Why are you still here, perv?!'

He'd forgotten he was still in a towel. He said nothing. He didn't bother to try and help her up. Instead he sidestepped her and made his way up-stairs. 'I'll be back.' He yelled back, before going straight into his bedroom and slipped the door shut behind him.

He had to admit, it could have all gone along worse. He furiously worked into his fur with the towel.

' _So much for the holiday….'_ He lamented to himself for a short moment.

He pulled clothes out of his cupboard. It was common for both species to wear clothes depending on the day or the occasion, it's just how things were. Winter was one of those special seasons where Paulo was likely to wear something despite the thickness of his fur. He still felt the winter chill when the month was at its worst, much like today. Sue was no different in that she had decided today was a clothes day too. He didn't notice from earlier she had worn a green sweater, long pants, and a patterned beanie to fend off the winter elements.

It only took a few minutes for him to emerge from his room back down the stairs and back to the living room in a much decent state than before; a brown jacket over a shirt and long pants. He only felt a tinge warmer than before, but if anything, he was a hell of a lot more uncomfortable with the damp fur. It would take a few hours even in winter for him to feel dry again. A much shorter time with the blow drier. Sue's wellbeing was the only thing on his mind at this stage this morning. He found her in the same place he'd left her. She hadn't moved at all. She just lay there with her hands covering her eyes closed.

He was concerned when he found her. He bent down side her and shook her arm lightly. 'Hey, Sue, are you ok? You're not frozen to my carpet, are you?' He asked, jokingly musing at the last part to try and ease the tension. He'd expected her to freak out, who wouldn't? He'd seen nothing like that wall of ice before. Something to cause the adrenalin to rush.

Instead, something in her caused her to lightly chuckle. 'I'm fine.' She said.

A part of him didn't believe her. Her reply sat between being angry at him and being upset. Sue didn't move from the floor, it seemed she was trying to get over it without making it obvious. 'Are you sure? I didn't hurt you when I pulled you in, did I?' He asked again, trying to make it obvious he was concerned with her.

She was quiet again before she coughed, 'It's all-right.' She said again, recomposed. 'As unexpected as _that_ was, I was just scared. . .for a moment there I thought I was going to die.'

'Yeah. . .well, if I'd only been a second later.' He sighed. He wasn't going to tell her he almost made it five minutes. 'Geez, Sue! What were you thinking walking here with that coming in?!'

'What was I—' She froze as she recited the words, then becoming quite animated as she got up and pushed him back hard with both her hands. Paulo couldn't fall anywhere but backwards as surprised he was at how quick she loved.

'You idiot!' She yelled back, 'I was trying to make sure _you_ weren't trying to make your way to the library!'

'I got your message!' Paulo said trying to get back up, confused about what she was even talking about.

'Did you even think to _reply_?!' She screamed.

His hand came to his face when he'd realised. That was the thing he tried to remember in the shower. He had been so engrossed in the idea of going on having his holiday he didn't even shoot back a 'gotcha!'

'Ahh.' Was all that came out of Paulo.

And like that, Sue tore into him. 'You idiot! I sent three texts and tried to call you! I ran out half way across the town to the Library and checked everywhere before they told me to go home! And then I ran here instead just to make sure you weren't already trying to get there! W…Where are you going?! I'm not done yet!'

Paulo ran into the kitchen and found his phone on the counter. His thumb went to work across the screen. She wasn't lying. There were three messages and _four_ unattended calls. He hadn't heard his phone go off… or maybe he did, he might have thought he heard his phone but didn't pay attention to it while he was in the shower. He felt like an idiot. He bought it with him back to Sue. She hadn't moved, and she was still furious at him. But inside Paulo a furore rose large enough to match her own. He held his phone up to her, not a shred of amusement in his face.

'This is a bit too much, even for me, don't you think? _Running across the entire town during a snowstorm warning_?' He inquired.

'I was worried! I—I'm responsible for making sure you were safe between here and the library!'

Paulo felt confused. 'No, you're not. I'm not a kid. The Library isn't that that far away from here. You of all people know that, I could've made it back long before it even hit.' The math was a no-brainer. Between both their houses, Sue's was more of a distance from the Library.

'This isn't about that! I didn't know whether you were going to the library or hanging back at home. I didn't know! It's my arrangement and my responsibility. I needed to make sure you were accounted for.' She argued back.

'It was still dangerous! Didn't anyone tell you not to try going outside? Seriously, you're meant to be the smart one when it comes to these things!' He said with outstretched arms, but he realised that wasn't exactly what he meant to say.

Sue reciprocated as such. 'W—Excuse me?! What is that supposed to mean?! Did you even hear me, Paulo? I didn't know if you were safe!'

'Stop treating me like I'm helpless! Even before I would've walked outside I would've seen the storm. What if you didn't make it to my house? You could've been seriously hurt!'

'I can't believe _you_ of all people are seriously trying to lecture _me_ about risk taking!'

'When did I ever do something as bad as this?' He asked, Sue's eye's narrowed right onto him. 'Alright, fine, sure. I did some really dumb stuff back then — years ago; when I was a kid. _You_ could've been turned into a _popsicle_! Hell, it almost happened!'

'I needed to know you were safe!'

'You could have been hurt!'

'Oh my god! Just drop it then. Can't you just be relieved someone went looking for you? It's what friends do, right?'

God, she had to string that word in there too, didn't she? He shook his head at her. 'No! I can't! I don't want _friends_ putting themselves in situations like that. What if something happened to you? You think I wouldn't be affected? I couldn't forgive myself!'

'Well, you can rest completely assured I certainly won't bother again.' Sue huffed. 'Nope, no more stupid decisions from me. Certainly not from a friend who was scared for your wellbeing! Don't need friends like those!'

Paulo's shoulders dropped along with a groan. This was just going nowhere. He was fed up at this point. 'Oh my god, Sue. It's not like I don't appreciate the thought. Just. . . promise me you won't do anything stupid like that again!'

'No.'

 _No?!_ Paulo's eyes widened, 'Excuse me?'

'It wasn't stupid. I've made up my mind. I made the right choice.'

He shook his head and threw his hands in the air, he turned towards the kitchen. 'I give up. You're impossible.'

She pulled on his jacket. 'Impossible?! Sorry Paulo but this is what you signed up for. I look out for my friends, it's what I do.'

'That's not even what I'm asking you to be sorry for! Just admit this whole thing was a dumb idea already!'

'No!'

'Why are you being so defensive about this?! I don't get it! Why didn't you go home?'

'This is who I am and what I do, Paulo. Take it or leave it!'

He was growing tired. Fuck it _,_ he thought. Just apologise, mark his own wrongdoing by not being reliable and be done with it. Rolling over felt like the better way to quell dealing with this.

But, but it didn't feel right! He didn't mean to forget about his phone! But she really didn't need to put herself at such a huge risk. She could've died!

To hell with the arrangement. If Sue didn't think her outside in the storm wouldn't affect him deep down, she was in for a surprise.

Paulo folded his arms and leaned forwards over Sue. 'I don't want friends who put themselves in danger. I'd sooner end this entirely if it'll keep you from doing something as stupid as that again!'

'You don't mean that!'

'I mean it!'

He felt a pain across his cheek as Sue's hand came up against it. His hand came up to feel where hers had just been.

'Then I'm going.' She said, making her way to the front door.

'No, you're not. You can't be serious.'

'I am serious! Are you going to try and stop me?'

She just had to be bluffing. She just had to be. 'You're delirious! It's a _gale_ outside! You'd be lucky to even make it up the road. You're staying here!' Paulo argued

'I'm leaving. Anywhere to be away from you.' Sue returned, her hand came up upon the handle. Paulo's brain began to register that maybe, just maybe there might have been a distinct possibility that maybe she wasn't bluffing about deciding to leave. Then he remembered something about the door. His body leapt forward over to her, but he wasn't quick enough.

Paulo tried to remember what had happened a few seconds before from the living room floor. He couldn't ignore he was in excruciating pain all over his body. It was hard to see, more importantly he was cold — really freaking cold.

It started coming back to him.

He remembered he wasn't quick enough; the door opened with such force it threw Sue back — into him. That was the last thing he saw. He thought for a moment he had heard a blood-curling scream at the same time, but he wasn't sure if it was from Sue or the wind as it howled inside. He fell against something after that, and there was a pain for a second. And. . .well, that was about it.

The first thing that returned was the pain again, but it didn't start at his head; it was everywhere. He felt sick, the wind, the cold, the pain, it was becoming too much. He felt like he was going to faint again. His attention went to the door. He had to shut it, lest they both freeze to death. He couldn't find the strength to stand, the wind battered him in pulses. He couldn't find any balance. That was fine; it was easier to crawl. It took all his strength to crawl up, and even more once he got close to the front door. He used his body to try and force it shut. It did, and he slumped over against it.

He was numb all over. He'd noticed the ice forming at the end of his hair. He felt like he was going to pass out again. He remembered Sue, he didn't have to look too far. She lay just beside here he woke up. She didn't leave. She didn't move either. A burst of adrenalin let him push up against the back door to move over to her. Each step hurting along the way. He managed to get up beside her before he collapsed back onto his knees. That was as much as he could do in this much pain.

'Sue, oh god please be okay. Are you okay?!'

She turned her head to him. Paulo felt a bit of relief pour into him. He couldn't ignore her clutching her left shoulder. 'Are you hurt?!' He asked as he crawled closer.

'It really hurts.' She struggled while wincing.

'I—It's not broken, is it?'

'I…I don't…Know…' She huffed. 'God this hurts so bad. It hurts to breathe!'

He didn't know what to do. An Ambulance would never get there. The gale was just too strong. They'd never reach his home in time.

'J…Just breathe slowly. You might just be winded! Y—You need to sit up.' Paulo panicked.

He tried to sit her up against the wall, but Sue ached and moaned in the process.

'Ah…Ow! Stop….Paulo…You're hurting…me!'

'I'm sorry! I'm sorry! But you need to sit up! T…Try to breath calm slow breaths.'

'A…Ah…This hurts so much…If….if I die…—'

'—no, no, no. You're not dying, Sue. Just hang in there for a bit.'

'If I die I am _so_ fucking haunting your ass.' She told him.

Something about that made him stop, and he bent over and laughed at it. The sheer absurdity of what she said just coming out from nowhere. He was far too concerned with her wellbeing and finding a way to cope with all that was going on, something in him just shut-down and took over. He didn't know where that comment even came from. But when he looked back up to her she was at least happy about something.

'Well, that managed to get you to calm down a bit.' She said. 'I'm feeling a little bit better. It might not be all tha—Ow!'

'Can you just be concerned with yourself for a change?! Oh god. . .Sue I never wanted this to happen! What do I need to do? Tell me what to do. You're the smart one.' He said. The panic was trying to set in, until Sue's hand felt against his.

'That was meant to be a slap. I guess it isn't broken but I'm certainly not going to be a help in P.E.' Sue replied. She tried to roll her arm around but struggled. She stopped once she noticed Paulo on the verge of tears, feeling awful about himself.

'Jesus, Sue. I—I didn't mean for this to happen! I wasn't fast enough to warn you about the door lock. I didn't want you putting yourself in danger! But then this had to happen!'

Sue started watched his stupid face begin to break down. She couldn't take it anymore.

'Oh, shut up. I'm sorry.' Sue apologised.

'H—Huh?' Paulo rose his head in confusion.

She sighed. 'That's what you wanted right? . . .I'll admit it — Walking around before a snowstorm was stupid. I could've died on the way here.'

There wasn't any sign of sweet redemption in Paulo's face, it stayed down as if understanding.

'Make no mistake though.' She continued. 'I don't regret coming out here to make sure you were okay. Well, until your door decided to clock me. Now I'm not too sure.' She said sitting up straight. 'Do you have any First Aid, and are you okay?'

'I—I think I've got some upstairs. And, yeah I think so.'

'Do you want to go get it? I'd go myself but-.' She tried to suggest, but Paulo was already thinking along the same line.

'It's fine, it's fine; I'll get it.'

'I mean it's not like the First Aid could chop off my fingers, right?'

Paulo stared at her. Was she trying to brighten his mood or was she making fun of the house? He shook his head and stood, making his way to the staircase. 'I'll be back shortly.'

'Hey, this cabinet won't suddenly come to life and eat me, right?'

'Oh my god. My house is old, it's not a deathtrap.' He called back over his shoulder. Though he couldn't have been too sure.


	15. Life Lessons

'You're still bleeding.' Sue said pointing to her cheek once Paulo returned from upstairs with a small box under his arm, she assumed that was the first aid kit he'd gone to retrieve.

'It's just a small scratch. Worry more about yourself.' He flatly replied, but Sue push a tissue into him as he sat down next to her. He sighed and thanked her before taking the tissue himself and holding it across the tiny gash from whatever he fell onto earlier, or Sue when she got pushed into him – he couldn't remember. He pulled the tissue back and looked at it; a few specs, not much was coming through anymore. He cleaned most of it while he was up in the bathroom. He put the small box down beside her on the floor and opened it up but felt dismayed by the lack of contents. He sighed pushing it over to her. 'I don't know if there's anything in here we can use.'

'That's fine.' She said reassuringly. 'It doesn't feel as bad now, at most I might need an ice pack, as silly as that sounds, right?'

Paulo laughed in agreement at the thought. But it'd be enough to numb the bruising. 'We have those at least. I won't have to try my own luck outside.' Paulo thought aloud. He went into the kitchen, pulling ice packs out of the freezer before walking back and sitting down behind her. 'Is it just sore?' He asked her worryingly, 'Are you sure nothing's out of place?'

It was a good a question if any, none of them ever had broken something (something amazing particularly concerning Paulo). 'No…not that I'd know what anything broken would really feel like.' She admitted. 'But I can't feel anywhere with just one hand. Can you try—. . .JESUS! Paulo! Be gentle!' She yelled as his fingers came into contact with what was now clear to them both as the sorest part of her back. Paulo had fallen backwards in surprise.

'Sorry! Your jacket looked pretty thick, I thought—'

'It's fine, just be gentle with me, okay? I'm probably going to need your help getting the jacket off to check underneath.'

'Keep the jacket on. You'll be warmer that way.' He protested, sitting forward again.

Sue rolled her eyes before starting to undo the zipper, 'Look, I'd rather not bleed into my jacket, if I am bleeding, I'm going to need your help so don't give me that weird crap.' She got to work, first trying to contain the mild discomfort in her voice as she tried to lift and rotate her shoulder in certain rotations to slip it off. Paulo gave in and tried to do what he could to keep her arm level as he let the jacket roll off. Even with his help it was pushing her to the breaking point; doing anything with her arm was just as painful. She was lucky she really didn't bust anything even by trying to slap him earlier, as half-hearted as it was. 'How about now?' She asked curiously to him again as the jacket dropped in front of them. Before she could allow Paulo to say anything she remembered the black shirt she wore underneath, 'Oh, right, choice day to wear something dark.' She turned her head to him. 'Well?'

'Well, what?' Paulo parroted.

'Lift my shirt up from back and check my side for cuts!' She ordered, causing Paulo to blush, also causing her to feel her blood pressure to rise along with her frustration. 'Oh come-the-hell on! Don't give me that face either! You're making it awkward yourself! I don't have eyes back there and it really fucking hurts to do anything with that side.'

'Yeah. . .but.' He muttered, but Sue wasn't going to take that and looked ahead again. It was starting to feel more awkward to her now as well.

'Augh! It's not like I'm asking you to completely undress me. . .not that I can imagine that is anything you haven't had any experience doing.' Immediately she drew a hand to her mouth. She hoped Paulo didn't hear that over the wind outside, but she was loud, and he heard all of it.

'What the hell is that supposed to mean?!' Paulo shot back.

'That's. . .— Sorry. . .the pain's getting to me is all. I didn't mean it. Can you hurry up a -AHH!' Her whole body lunged forward instinctively away from Paulo. She turned her head back to him and saw he had recoiled in the opposite direction from shock as well, his hand hovering in the air.

There was some amazement in his voice, he'd only just lightly touched her. 'What the hell? That far across your back too?'

'No, Paulo' She grumbled. 'You've got cold hands.'

'Oh, Right; the ice packs. . .' He remembered. He rubbed his hands together until they felt slightly warm before lightly grabbing a part of her shirt and lifting it high enough to see if she was bleeding. Thankfully he saw nothing; her fur radiated with the same colour it always had. There wasn't the slightest hint of blood. She'd been lucky given the circumstances, but she would bruise horribly - that much he could tell as he skimmed his hand between her fur for any evidence of a cut. Two of the ice packs from the freezer found themselves on Sue's upper shoulder and down near her side, her jacket was tight enough to hold them in place so long as she wasn't moving around as much. They considered themselves lucky. The door had opened with such a force it could've broken something; hell, maybe something was, or at least fractured. Who knew? Neither of them ever had broken bones in the past to tell what the feeling was like, so it was hard to say if it was more than bruises. They would've checked from the internet on their phones for symptoms — had the phones worked — the storm had taken out the cell service. It wasn't likely to come back any-time soon, and the snowstorm was leaving no sign of letting up.

Had it there ever been weather this bad in Roseville before?

Sue's jacket went back on once it was all done. Paulo sat back as Sue shuffled around from where she sat around to meet him.

'Well.' She started to say, she stopped. Her ears fell flat and she sank into where she where she sat. She felt miserable.

'I guess that decides it.' Paulo said, completing her. 'You're staying here whether you like it or not.'

'I suppose so.' She said, reluctantly, her heart wasn't in it; put off by the whole fight earlier. She half expected him to dig into her for doing something so irrational again. But he didn't, at least directly when he addressed her as he rose to his feet.

'Welcome to my house anyway. . .as late as is to say it, and you've also been acquainted with its many problems. You'll have to forgive the mess; my father and I don't clean up as often. We don't often have guests come in because it's. . .' He looked down to the floor as his voice trailed off. '. . .a pretty shit house.'

'It's just you and your father?' Sue queried.

A sore spot. Not one that ever really came up as often, but one regardless as far as family was concerned. He'd have thought he would've gotten over it by now, but he hardly ever spoke to anyone about it. Only a couple of friends noticed; those few happened to be David and Lucy for obvious reasons. He needn't have to answer as Sue began to shake her head having felt some rudeness in asking.

'Never mind, I didn't mean—' She tried to apologise.

'It's fine. My mom left my dad before I moved here. It's just been us both, he looks after me as best he can.' He rose to his feet. 'Anyway, what now?' He asked, trying to shift the focus. He watched her as she bought her legs around to try and stand up like he had. Prompting him to ask if she wanted something to sit down on.

Sue was determined otherwise, 'No, I've got it. . .Oooup!' She said, finding herself falling forwards. She grabbed onto Paulo's arm with the bad arm. She grit her teeth enduring the pain before Paulo came around to the other arm to support her up.

'Look, just sit down.' He argued, trying to push her back to sit down. Sue fought against him in the opposite direction.

'Let me go already, would you? I'm fine, see?!' She said, pushing herself off him and coming to her full height once more. She made her best attempt at seeming like her appearance wasn't a lie. It was only when she attempted to walk the effort she made to try and hide her limp made it all too obvious to anyone watching her. It didn't deter her either. 'If anything, I've just been sitting down for too long. That's all.' She continued.

He gave up and let her do what she wanted. Tenacity was her forte and he felt he might have known better at this stage to try and stop her. But he'd kept an eye on her at the very least, ready to catch her if she suddenly started to fall in a direction. No, there was no chance in hell of stopping her otherwise once she got her way.

It wasn't too long before he noticed she wasn't walking for the feel of things but rather as if she was looking for something, when it appeared not to be here, she asked;

'Where's your living room?'

'You're standing in it.' He said slightly holding his arms out to the side. 'We don't have a second table, there's just the one in the kitchen which is more than enough.'

He stood back as Sue made her way past him and into the kitchen again and watched as she sized up the wooden dinner table. She stepped back into the living room once she was done.

'It's warmer in this room.' She told him, having completed her assessment.

Paulo nodded. 'The living room has carpet.'

'I mean the room is warmer in general, the lighting is better too. Do you want to roll the table in here?'

He shook his head. 'No, it's old and heavy, and I wouldn't put it past falling to pieces of we tried.' Something didn't seem to line up with the question. Then it clicked, a disbelief in his voice as he went to confirm, 'You're seriously planning to try to study even after all of that?!'

'Well, what would you prefer we do then?' She asked.

It had to be that one, didn't it? He wished she'd have asked any other question. He'd only been hopelessly thinking about it all morning for himself and drawing a blank, let alone for something the two of them could possibly do together.

It really wasn't the case that the house really was completely devoid of things to do, he was sure if he searched well enough there was certainly something he could occupy himself with. But for two people. . .well, every time he ran through some ideas and what if that would keep Sue entertained, he couldn't agree with himself on either of them. The more he thought about it, he couldn't shake the slight misgiving in his heart that grew from her just being here. He tried not to feel mean about it; despite everything that Sue had done for him up until now — despite being there for him during his final school year over these past few months, he didn't feel like she was like any other guest in his house.

She really came off like a stranger. He still knew nothing about her.

Sue waited with arms folded. God, Paulo thought, it was the worst feeling. He couldn't think of a single idea that Sue would accept, each scenario seemed to instead feel like it gave her a reason to be upset. For some reason he felt that really mattered right now. He wanted to pick something that felt right. But he couldn't! Nothing came up! And if he ever asked her when she wanted to do, he knew what she'd say; it was on his mind as well! That, as much as he hated it. As much as he wanted to do something that seemed fun at this stage.

By the time Paulo had finally decided on something Sue's patience had already reached her limit. 'Look, I'm just here to make sure you get a passing grade. That's all I'm here for. I don't have any other plans on how to ruin your weekend. Let's just get it ov- mpPHMMPH!' Her good arm swung at the space Paulo's hand had preoccupied a mere moment before. Her temper rose with it. She was a split-second from grilling him for touching her before Paulo cut in quickly.

'It's not that! I get it already. Just. . .just stay down here while I get my books. I'll clear up the coffee table near the TV so we can use it. You don't have to touch anything, just wait for me to do it.' He said, as he made his way to the stairs and began to climb them to his room.

It wasn't the right thing to do. He already knew. In any other circumstance he'd never dared put a hand on a girl without their consent (or any other person for that matter, he had felt he'd come some distance since long before then). But he just didn't want Sue to keep harping on. This whole clusterfuck of a day was just another in the line of things he came to feel he needed to deal with. All for the sake of graduating this year.

Sue allowed a "finally" to ring in the back of her head. She found it thoughtful of Paulo to finally come around and decide to be reasonable. Had Paulo had the nerve to have a second thought she would've given none to giving him a real piece of her own mind. Better yet, she planned to as soon as he got back. But her mood softened as she watched him climb the stairs. When he'd disappeared, her own thoughts then went to her bag. She spotted it nearby. It had been thrown near the corner of the living room when the door knocked it off her shoulders. She walked over to it and bought it upright, unzipping and inspecting the contents; nothing appeared damaged. Having assessed that, she began taking out her pens and book, but she stopped and lightly tapped it against her forehead.

She tried to let the regret pass through before her attention went to the storm raging outside. It showed no signs of calming anytime soon.

Paulo took no time throwing his books over by the couch and went to deal with the empty beer cans that had been left occupying various spaces around the room. The cigarette tray had to go; he put that over on the other side of the room. He took one look at the coffee tables' surface and then disappeared into the kitchen, returning a second later with a cloth in hand. His scowl deepened as each hand movement revealed the original surface underneath the grime. He felt embarrassed. It was worse than he'd imagined. The house really was in an awful state; certainly not hospitable for guests. He'd have to remember to really give it a once over as soon as Spring rolled around.

The coffee table was smaller than the kitchen table. They'd have to sit on the carpet, but it would be enough for the two of them without needing to grab the heavier kitchen table. Sue didn't feel the need to complain one the preparations had finished. She'd have congratulated him, but didn't, and choose to sit on her side opposite him, laying her books at her side and her pencils on the table. The most important thing was getting through the work.

'I might need a pencil.' Paulo muttered to himself. Sue rolled her eyes and began to fish for another pen in her pencil case. As she held one up to him she noticed him twirling one in his hands. She gave him a look deserving of ire for wasting her time. 'I said I would need a pencil. I didn't say I didn't have one.' He joked.

Awful, fucking awful – his worst, and it didn't work to bring up her mood one bit. Sue didn't laugh, instead looking at him grimly. She began flicking through the pages in her book to where they would begin as Paulo sat down opposite her, not a single word or strong reaction.

'I'm only just trying to lift the mood, cheer up, Sue.'

Sue immediately shot back a glare to tell him to get with the programme.

'I'll get serious now.' He sulked apologetically.

They got to work on the next chapter of their studies.

They didn't last an hour.

Paulo only knew they'd hit a roadblock in their study when Sue had finished venting her frustrations through her actions; she scratched her head, tapped her pencil on the table, chewed on the eraser. It took her a lot of effort and self-contained perseverance before she felt the need to end her suffering. 'I don't get it.' She sulked.

'What's wrong?' Paulo said looking over. He'd be a liar if he didn't admit the admission didn't pique his interest. Besides, his ears both stood on end; Sue never admitted defeat openly to him before.

'I don't get this next part. It isn't clear what they're wanting.' She replied, she pointed to a question on the textbook to show him. It was way past where Paulo was currently working on. That was normal. Sue was naturally ahead by him by a couple of questions. He never seemed to be ahead of her. It was almost like he never stopped studying herself. He looked over to see what question she was on and tried to read it himself on his own textbook. After a minute, he finally responded.

'That can't be in English.' He said half joking, half serious. He knew she understood it from the glance she gave back to the paper.

'Could they have written it any stranger?' She asked. She dropped her pen and crossed her arms while she tried to give it some deeper thought. Paulo felt he couldn't help and left her to figure it out on her own. He retreated to his own work. It was a momentary setback, he was pretty sure she'd figure it all out by then.

By the time he'd caught up he hadn't noticed Sue had sunken onto the table during that time.

'Sue!' He yelled in a panic.

'What?' She didn't even bother looking up from the table.

A breath of relief escaped him, he'd thought she had collapsed for a moment there. He was still wary despite her constant protests that she was fine that there might still be something wrong she just didn't want to make him worry about. 'Nothing.' Paulo replied. ''Just worried for a moment. Are you sure you're feeling okay?'

She still refused to look up from the table. 'I'm fine. Just. . . still stuck on this stupid question.'

'If we had the internet we could at least look this up. Maybe we should just come back to this one once the phone services are restored?' Paulo suggested.

Sue finally showed some life, looking up from the book. 'We can't do that! We need to understand how to do this one before we move onto the next or we won't understand the rest!'

Damn it, he thought. He looked up to the clock on the wall, taking note of how close the hands were noon. He'd been feeling peckish over the last few questions. Breakfast was becoming a distant memory now. He was sure a sandwich or two could help him feel like he had more energy, and he'd be able to jump right back into the thick of things. He had decided. 'I don't think I can manage a step further without having something to eat. Did you want something?' He asked as he sat back from the table.

'No, 'not hungry. You can give up if you want to but I'm going to press on.' She told him. Her hand found the pen again and began rhythmically tapping her exercise book, ready to give it another go. Her complete and utter tenacity was something to really to behold. He would've sighed as he prepared to get up, had he not frozen in place when a particular sound came behind him from Sue's direction. She'd frozen in embarrassment; her own stomach had betrayed her.

'You are hungry, aren't you?' He queried again, seeing whether or not she would come around to agreeing with him this time.

'That was the ice-pack moving about! I'm not hungry!' Sue yelled back

He groaned, that was not what that sounded like. 'You're an awful liar! I seriously cannot believe you think I'm dumb enough to know that was anything else but from you.' He wanted to keep digging into her. But his own stomach growled. Time to parlay, he decided; priorities first. There'd be no chance in hell he was going to continue further without having something of sustenance first. He slapped both of his hands down onto the table and rose from it. 'Fine, you can stay there and keep working. I'll make something for you too. Does a burger sound good?'

'You don't need to get me anything!'

'You can't be serious; you're a guest!'

'I said no!'

'I can afford to feed another mouth, Sue! If you're feeling bad because I'm poor — you can cut it out; I'm not letting a guest starve!' He turned and rose to his feet and paraded into the kitchen with such a stride and a smile on his face, feeling nothing short of amazing; he only needed to burn Sue's reaction into his mind for just that small brief period where it almost seemed like she'd been knocked off her high-horse. He might have thought he heard a protest from Sue just a second before, but he blocked it out before he made sense of it. He was now on a mission of sustenance.

The first thing he noticed in the kitchen was the temperature dropping; his feat started to stick to the tiles. He needed to warm up. A hamburger was the perfect option after all; it would warm up the house as well. Right! First thing's first! The ingredients! He thought to himself. He started by venturing between the freezer and the counter, popping the meat patties he'd retrieved into a fry pan and an assortment of other vegetables sat on the cutting board. The intention was clear; he'd create the perfect "Burgertron" signature trademarked burgers like the ones he made at work. Albeit — made fresh, and not stored at negative temperatures for months on end like they were at work.

He alternated between the meat simmering in the fry pan to the cutting board and the tomatoes. It was only when he turned once more to work the patties did he hear the knife cut into the cutting board. He turned to see Sue taking over that portion of the work.

'You really shouldn't—' He tried to say.

'Let me do this. It wouldn't sit with me to have you do all the work.'

'Fine, but if you're going to do that, at least learn to handle the knife properly.' He said while pointing to her grip on the tomato.

'What's wrong with what I'm doing?' She asked confused.

'You've got your fingers in the wrong position, you're gonna cut yourself if you try it like that. Here…' He moved up beside her and tried to lightly put his hands over the top of hers, but Sue balked first causing him to jump a foot in the opposite direction when the knife came up to his face. 'WHOA SHIT! Are you crazy?! Don't point the knife at me! I'm trying to show you how they make us do it at work!'

She slowly worded 'Tell me what I'm doing wrong.'

'Fucking hell! Fine! Look, just aim the fucking knife downwards when you're not at the chopping board! Anyway, you're going to slice the tips of your fingers if you cut like you were before. Use your knuckles and move the knife like a saw.' He explained while using his hands as if he were cutting the tomato himself.

Sue rubbed the tip of her fingers as she imagined before returning the knife and herself in front of the chopping board again. She tried doing as he described, after a couple of attempts she turned to him. 'I'm sorry, can you show me like you tried to?' Sue asked.

Paulo turned his head.

'Please.' She asked again.

He tried standing beside her to show like he had intended before, but his hands shook as they drew closer to hers, wary whether he'd need to jump away again.

'Do you want the knife?' Sue asked, ready to forfeit it.

'No, the way you're holding it is fine, but you need to saw the tomato and the other vegetables like this.' He moved his hands over the top of hers, each finger gently pressing against each of Sue's before Paulo guided the knife expertly through the tomato. With each slice, he repositioned Sue's grip on the tomato. He did this twice, until he lifted his hands away for Sue to try once again. She mimicked it in the exact same way, until she made a mistake and then swore under her breath. Paulo caught it and gave a chuckle as he lifted the patties off the pan.

Paulo took a bite of his assembled burger and let the textures sink into his tastebuds. It was nirvana; he'd outdone himself. Everything tasted about right. But it was just short of exquisite his thoughts rang; he could barely taste much of the spices he threw in. He wondered how that went wrong. Was it because he used too many at once? That's fine, it was something to investigate. He'd get it right for next time!

He felt eyes against him. Almost like a sixth sense kicking in. He looked up and noticed Sue hadn't touched hers from across the kitchen table, instead watching him intently and judgingly of the food they'd made. He felt weird, if not a little embarrassed. He muttered 'eat' despite his mouth full.

Sue continued to watch for a few seconds, unsure if the sight her eyes captured were real or just a façade. Surely, it couldn't be that good. Her eyes went to her burger. Her stomach demanded not a second could be further abated without the burger meeting her own lips. She went for it. She bit down and ripped away the bread before the burger returned to the plate. Sue could not take her eyes off it.

'Is it ok?' Paulo asked.

'No. . . I mean; yes, it is. It's just…' She had difficulty finding the right words, prompting Paulo to tilt his head to the side and wonder about his wrongdoing. Were his taste buds wrong? Did he make it too strong?

'It's good.'

She beset on the burger like a wolf upon a flock of sheep. Sue dug well deep into it. After she swallowed the first bite, she began taking her time with the next few with a smile on her face. But felt sad when she got to the last. She began to remember how cold the kitchen was. She forgot a second later as her whole body flushed as she found Paulo watching her intently with a grin upon his face.

'What is it?!' She blushed.

'Nothing! I just never saw anyone really enjoy my cooking as much.' The smile didn't leave him. 'Was that enough? Did you want something to drink? Soda?'

There wasn't a doubt in her mind she couldn't go for another burger, so long as she could get past the guilt she felt from being a burden on his hospitality. She didn't know about his family being as poor as they were. She didn't want to eat him out of house and home, 'Uh…do you have tea?' she asked.

'Yeah, I can do that.' He replied, he turned towards the counter again and started pulling out some mugs and filling the kettle. When he turned around Sue had decided to go back into the living room. He'd bring the mugs with him, putting one on her side and one on his own to enjoy.

'Thank you.' She said as Paulo hand came down placing the full mug down in front of her. 'For the food as well; it was really good.'

'You looked like you enjoyed yourself with it.' He replied smiling as he sat down at his portion of the table.

His shoulders fell with him once he looked back upon the school work. With the deed of lunch fulfillment complete, there was only work remaining. He bought his pen back up in his hand, if there was going to be any help in trying to understand the work they were both focusing on, he'd have to struggle for a couple of hours; there just wasn't any getting out of it.

He wouldn't manage to write a sentence when he heard Sue mutter something to him softly from her side of the table.

'It really was dumb of me, wasn't it?' She muttered to herself.

'Huh?' Paulo asked, confused.

'Running around during a storm warning, I meant. . .' Sue clarified.

He had really been expecting the admission long since earlier, but that was hours ago and he'd felt as if he'd gotten over it. It was water under the bridge now and by no means did he feel like he wanted to dwell on it further. They had said their piece already, and . . .well they ended up getting bruised from it. 'Well…you're here now, right?' He looked up from his book to her moping towards hers. He felt as if he should say something, to bring up her mood. 'I guess I'd be lying if I didn't say more clearly that I really do appreciate it. You know — you going out of your way to make sure I was okay? I should've said that way earlier when you arrived instead of freaking out.'

Sue looked up towards Paulo for a moment before she bought her arm up on the table and rest her head off her hand. 'No, I should be the one who's sorry.'

Again? 'Well, it doesn't matter anymore.' Paulo said trying to avoid it. He crossed out the answer he thought he was sure of from his exercise book – It was wrong. Damn this question!

'No, it does matter.' She complained. Sue pulled herself off her hand, made it into a fist and slammed it down on the table. 'Nothing about it was sane! It only hit me when I was half way here and I turned around and saw it behind me. It was only then I. . .I felt. . .' Sue sniffled. 'I—I could have died. I only realised now. I wasn't thinking. And I took it out on you. I don't deserve your hospitality.'

Every single time he thought he'd feel better from the vindication, it somehow made him end up feeling much worse inside. 'Hey, come on. I've already said it was okay if it wasn't clear already. And besides that, you're here now, so what's the problem?' He replied, trying to take her mind off it.

'No, it isn't! You're right, I am supposed to be the "smart one" — I'm supposed to be your tutor, but I can't even manage to have us get a head-start on the class by finishing this one question off. Some teacher I turned out to be!'

'Okay, seriously—'

'I've left such a bad impression on you by—.'

'Would you shut up about it already?! You of all people aren't allowed to have a mental break-down!'

There wasn't any thought behind it. It suddenly slipped out and Paulo went to cover his mouth as quickly as he did. The flood gates to the sewerage works were now open.

Sue stared back at him wide-eyed 'Wh — What do you mean I can't?! What even gives you the right to say that?! I—I'm allowed to! Aren't I?!' Paulo didn't respond, still registering what came over him to say what he did earlier. He snapped to when Sue bought her arm up and tried throwing her pen at him, but it didn't fly as fast as fast as it looked like it was going to. His hand went to grab at it, he found it in mid-air, but the tip drove itself into his hand causing him yell and drop it onto the floor in front of him. He retrieved it and made ready to throw back at her. He wouldn't shy away from throwing something at a girl — an eye for an eye. It was when Sue braced for it he also saw her clutch her bad arm. His arm retracted back to his side.

'You forgot it was your throwing arm you busted for a second there, didn't you?' He asked. A part of him wanted to poke some fun against her, he felt remorseful instead.

Through her grit teeth. 'Shut up, asshole!'

'I'm sorry.' Paulo apologised, sitting down.

'If you really were then why did you say it?!' She yelled back.

'Because you act so fucking perfect and high and mighty trying to set a good example all of the time, you might as well be a robot!' He tossed her pencil back towards her side of the table. 'I'm tired of this stupid arrangement where our friendship only ever concerns itself about study. You've been acting more irritated than usual, so tell me what's wrong!' She didn't reply, her silence marked her refusal. He felt agitated by it. 'Why are you trying so damn hard to be perfect?' He shouted.

'I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.' Sue replied.

'If that's not the problem, what is then?' He pressed.

'Do you think I'm really going to tell you after all of that?'

'You weren't going to tell me before so what difference does it make? Tell me!'

'Mind your own business!'

'Fuck you! Am I not good enough of a friend you can't even talk to?!' He yelled back.

'That's funny coming from the person who wanted to break it off like it was nothing just earlier!' Sue seethed back at him.

His shoulders fell. 'Come on. That was, a bluff!' He stammered. 'I didn't want to. I just wanted you to admit going out during storm warning was crazy. I'm sorry for what I said earlier; it was the wrong thing and I shouldn't have said it. But I just want to help, and you keep pushing me away. What's biting you?' He asked again.

Sue wasn't too convinced at the proposition. 'Help? You?'

'Look; I know I haven't been a real help to anyone in the past. I'm trying to do things better. But I can't if you're not going to give me a chance to try.' He said. 'I mean, friends try to help each other out, right?'

'I don't—' Sue sighed when she realised he caught her by her words from earlier; friends do try to help each other. They really weren't acting like friends and she didn't want to be made as some huge hypocrite. 'The thing is I don't know if I'm good enough to help you out anymore. I try as hard as I can, but. . . see this question just makes me feel. . . helpless!' She said nudging the book.

He had a feeling that this might have been the case; he remembered when Amaya told him to apologise to Sue at the library weeks back, he didn't confront her immediately, in truth he hid for a bit, working up the courage, but felt his heartstrings tug when Sue was quite visibly irritated at the work. 'I think we're doing fine as it is.' Paulo replied trying sound helpful.

'Well I don't.' She contradicted. 'I wanted to do more so you not only pass but get a good grade. But even I'm struggling with the work.'

Oh god, the guilt was building up in side of him, this was not what he wanted. 'Oh my god, Sue, I only asked that you could help me study, not try to do the impossible! It's my failure if I don't pass. I never wanted you feeling like you were responsible for me!' His hand came to his head. 'Giving it my all isn't going to get me anything less than something average at this point. I feel like I've made too many stupid mistakes that I can change.'

Sue gave a light hearted ha when she heard it. She wanted him to admit it some time ago, but it didn't make her feel any better, much like last time. 'Well, at least you've admitted it. . .'

'Yeah . . . well, how couldn't've I? I'm sure seeing how things are now I could've done better if I really tried—' He let himself fall backwards against the floor, he stared back up towards the celling. '—Had I really cared. Everything's come back at me one way or another.'

'Poor baby.' Sue muttered unapologetically.

Paulo rose his head up to glare at her, but after a second it fell back to the floor again. He wouldn't bother. A part of him expected sympathy, but he asked it from the wrong person. 'Anyway, the math problem is just one question. We can ask about it on Monday. Are you sure it's not just because your arm hurts? We can stop, you know?'

'It's not my arm. And it can't wait until Monday.'

'Why not?' Paulo asked, confused. He rose from the floor.

She held her breath. The admission was muttered. 'I'm sort of. . . ahead.'

Still confused, 'What do you mean? You're not making sense.'

'I've been a couple of weeks ahead in the study just to make sure I was able to cut the slack. . . Just not today.'

A thought started to bubble in his head. 'You mean to say that every week before now you've been studying in advance of everyone else?'

'It was to stop the chance of this happening. Now I feel like a complete and utter fool.'

His jaw dropped. 'Jesus Christ, Sue! Just how far ahead were you? Better question – How?! Are you meaning to say you were even studying for hours every other time?'

Sue didn't answer. She just picked up her pencil and started working at the question again.

Paulo took that for what it was and sat back up. He had no idea, and he wouldn't stand for it. He'd catch up. He'd throw himself at the wall. He went back to his page. 'What have you got down so far in your workings for this? I want to compare.' He asked.

'No, Let me figure this out first and then I'll teach you.' She told him.

'Just tell me what you've got so far, and I'll try to think about it as well.'

'No jus—'

'Did you get fifteen for the first part?'

'Yes. But—'

'And if I divide it by this amount I should—' Instead of meeting paper, his pen met the surface of the table. He found his book finding its way into the kitchen by their side. There was only one explanation.

'Are you for fucking real, Sue?!' Paulo yelled, he stood up. 'What is your problem?!'

Sue stood up as well. 'Let me figure this out!' She demanded.

'No! Why do I have to leave this up to you?! It's been like this at every time! We're supposed to be studying together!'

'I'm supposed to be tutoring you!'

That did it. He grabbed her exercise book and threw it to same side where his landed, it skidded into the kitchen and landed next to his.

'What was that for?!' Sue yelled.

'It was so you get the picture we're supposed to be in this together. Don't act like you didn't drop out of the class ahead for nothin'!'

Sue stared back as if she'd been betrayed. 'What the hell! Why would you bring that up?!'

'Because you needed the help just as badly as I did! Tch, I feel completely cheapened out by this.' Paulo choked.

'How in the hell do you feel cheap?'

'Because all of this explains how everything felt so easy — You've done all the work in advance! How many hours did you spend ensuring you were that far ahead?'

'I'm not telling you that!' Sue said.

'You can't keep up this charade up forever, Sue — you'll tell me eventually.' He crossed his arms.

'Oho! And how do you figure that?!' Sue asked with the upmost confidence.

'Because if our friendship means anything more to you than this study crap — you'll come clean about it.'

'Or what?'

His hands came up to his hair. 'ARGH! Why are you always so defensive?! Is it so fucking strange that I'm putting your wellbeing first here!'

'You don't have to!'

'No, clearly I was right about working with a robot who wants to show off rather than a friend who values honesty!'

'What would you know about honesty?!' Sue spluttered. 'Besides, you're getting the advantage here, aren't you?!'

He pointed a finger in her direction as he got up from the table. 'At least I can admit when I was wrong about something! It took you a door to the face and the best meal in the past hour for you to admit yours!' He yelled back. He felt he couldn't take it, he had to know. He walked into the kitchen and picked up the two books that were thrown on top of each other. He opened Sue's to the page she was already at. He noted the dates at the sides – evidence, before it disappeared from his hands a second later. 'You were a whole month ahead of the work!'

'Forget about it!' Sue demanded.

'No! I won't.' He felt conflicted inside. He didn't really want this, how many hours did she spend trying to keep ahead of everyone else. His fears were starting to come true. She had to be constantly studying, researching. God. Why subject yourself to that kind of a hell? 'I really hate this, you know? Never mind now — whatever; you have your reasons. But weeks ago, you told me how hard it was to get to know me. Why is it so hard to get to know you? Why does this have to be a one-way street?'

'It's because you don't need to know anything about me to study — I'm only here to help you graduate.'

'But you told me—'

'Don't misunderstand, I told you I was going to help you. The only strings attached were the ones where we don't try to murder each other in cold blood while we were in each other's company.'

Paulo's arms fell to his sides at the revelation. 'Was that all this thing about friends was all supposed to be?' He asked.

'We're still friends.'

About as cryptic as she'd ever been. His gut feeling was right about earlier. God he was right about everything before. Professional friends. And that was all they'd be.

'Okay' He replied. 'I've misunderstood then.' He turned back towards the coffee table and returned to his side. He didn't bother waiting for her as his pen came back up into his hand and to the work at hand, he tried to make it out like he was writing and thinking about his answers. But all he was really doing was reminding himself how much of a naive fool he was.

'What are you doing?' She asked, sitting down again opposite him.

'Going over my answers; making sure they're correct.'

'They are.'

She could guess just by looking? He wondered, 'Then. . .what should I do?'

'Sit and wait for a bit.' She told him, tentative to her own work.

He looked up at her as if unsure of what she told him to do. He gave in. He let the pen slide out of his hand and returned to laying on his back as he had before with a huff as he did it. He felt he really couldn't do much anyway until she found the answer, leaving him to deal with his own frustrations inside of himself. What a cruel thing to do, he thought to himself. Everything had begun to rub him the wrong way.

It gave him a bit of time to really think about right now. He didn't know what to make of it still; the study sessions had all been pre-planned, well in advance than what he thought about earlier. He wondered how many hours she spent locked away in her room doing what she could to learn harder so that she could teach better.

It wasn't all bad, was it? She was right, he was benefiting from it. . .

No, it felt wrong to him, and it still didn't make sense. Why was she going through so much effort just for him? What was she really getting out from it?

A part of him blamed him for backing off just before they finally got to the answer they were chasing after. He didn't know why exactly. He just . . . did so, as if he was granting her space.

Was he afraid of her?

It might've been close to what he had been feeling. He threatened to end the relationship, she returned in kind. But he bluffed about it. . .

He thought to check. 'Hey, Sue?' He asked.

'Yes?'

'. . .earlier, were you really going to leave?'

Sue was quiet as she rested her head on her hand, she looked over to him before back to the text book. 'Yes.' She replied flatly.

He felt slightly dispirited, 'O-oh. . .'

Sue returned to her book again, but her fingers went up to the bridge in her nose and rubbed it. 'No.' She angrily corrected herself. 'I probably would've come back another day when I think you would've gotten over it, but I didn't mean to open the door.' Her arms came down upon the table. 'Hell. I can't concentrate, you're not making it any better.'

'I'll be quiet, sorry.' He apologised.

'No.' She said. 'Jesus, no — You can apologise by telling me what's biting you all of a sudden.'

He groaned in absolute frustration. 'WHY?! Why do I always have to be the one telling you about how I feel?'

'Is this bugging you?' She asked again, not paying mind to his objection.

'Yes, it is!' he replied. 'I hate how it's all about work, this isn't anything closer to weeks ago when we fought at the library.'

Her hands came to her head, she looked down to her books and sighed. 'I thought as much.' Sue muttered to herself.

'What do you mean you thought as much, it wasn't obvious?'

'I only thought it was for the best that I kept you at an arm's distance, so you wouldn't lose your focus on what was at stake here. But clearly this is not working out.' Sue flipped her textbook shut. Her other hand coming to the other side of her face. 'I give up.' She told him and stared down to the back of her textbook as Paulo came back up from the floor.

'Why would you even think that was necessary? You came to me as if you were really wanting to be a close friend not just months ago, now we're nowhere even close to what feels like it's normal.'

'I'm aware of that! I just didn't think that was a higher need for you instead of passing this year!'

'Did you ever think to just ask what I actually needed?' Paulo asked.

Her hand moved up to her forehead, as if that was ever a question that came to her before. 'Then what do you want, then?' She queried.

'I want to know why the hell the only thing we talk about is work. You talk to Amaya and David about every little thing inconsequential, and then when it comes to me — it's work. Why is it you haven't opened up a little and spoken to me about those things?'

'I don't know if you've ever noticed, Paulo; but we hardly ever found a way of getting along most of the time.'

'I know in the past but. . .we can try, right?'

'That's not how it works, Paulo.'

'Look, I get it already; we weren't even remotely good friend's years ago and we never saw common ground. Can't we at least try to be now? What was two months ago?' He asked.

'Is it really as important?!' Sue queried back.

'Why wasn't it? You haven't even given it a real chance, you weren't even giving me a real chance just before! Come on, I'm begging you!'

Sue recoiled a bit, the admission made her a bit more suspicious. 'What do you mean? You have other friends, you have David and Daisy. Aren't you talking to them?'

He was hesitant. 'I don't want to talk about that.'

'What did you do?' She rose from her seat. 'You will tell me what the problem is.'

'Look, just back off!' He yelled back at her. He watched her as she stared back towards him, before sighing and sitting down again.

'Fine. I guess it'll have to stay with you.' She crossed her arms and looked away from him.

He didn't last long, 'God, you're cruel.' He told her. Secretly Sue smiled to herself. She'd worked him out in no time at all. Paulo realised this as well. There was an injustice about it; he was in his own kingdom, and he was his own worst enemy.

'Are you going to tell me?' She asked.

He sighed. 'I've done nothing, okay? It's just that. . . that one time we had two months ago? 'Made me really think you were the closest thing to a real friend that I've never had. David's great, but I've just never confided my feelings with David. Well, not since Acapulco. I never really saw him as that kind of a friend; he's not good in the advice area. Daisy. . .' he trailed off.

'Daisy?' Sue pried.

'. . . I never really found strength to talk to her about how I really felt.' He admitted. 'Never really talked to her too deeply about my feelings either.'

'Jasmine either?' She asked trying to shift it away from Daisy. 'She was fairly close to you, I would've thought you would've at least tried to mend that bridge.'

'It's kind of hard still being friends once our relationship ended. . .' his voice trailing off again. 'It was another lifetime ago.'

'I doubt it's really that complicated. You're still acquaintances with them. If they mean as much to you, you should at least try to mend it.' Sue suggested. 'Seriously, when did you really start to care what other people thought of you?'

'What does that mean? Of course I always did.' Paulo replied staring her down. He sighed when he thought back to the suggestion, 'But I'll try talking to Jasmine tomorrow.' He relented, before asking 'Well?'

'Huh?' Sue asked.

'Your turn, you didn't answer my question from earlier.'

'I've told you already, you have other closer friends.'

'No! That's not—! Screw it! What are you getting out of all of this?! What happens when I graduate at the end of the year, then what? What happens from there as far as this friendship goes?'

Sue was silent. 'I. . .I guess we go our separate ways?'

'Are you really okay with that?' Paulo's shoulders fell as he sat up closer to the table. 'Come on. You turned around at class ages ago, you went to the cinemas with me when you could have said no. You told me you wanted to know more about me back at the Library. You must have had some thought that this could've worked out better than how it was before. Seriously; what's wrong with me that you can't even talk about what you ate this morning?'

'There's nothing. . . –' she struggled, '—wrong with you. I only thought if it we kept this on a professional basis it might've worked out and there'd have been a lesser a chance of you failing from feeling distracted. It's not that we couldn't. . . if we really tried, but. . . '

'But?' Paulo parroted.

'I can't think of a single particularly good memory we've ever shared together. We've always been at each other's throats.' She told him. He was silent. There really wasn't an occasion where they both laughed together.

It was just fight.

After fight.

After fight.

Paulo agreed deep down that there were few times where they had gotten along, but he didn't want to believe the feelings he thought they shared between each other were anything than just felt like it had to happen. Surely, Sue had to reciprocate the same feelings somewhere inside of her iron curtain defences. 'That's not, really. . . necessarily true.' Paulo replied.

'What do you mean?' Sue asked.

'I think we had a lot of fun when we were at the movies, ignoring how it started. I think we're capable of getting along if we try.'

'I was kind of a bitch to you when we went on that date, wasn't I?' Sue asked, thinking backwards.

'Well, I guess we were both nervous, but I gu—'

'Paulo, just tell the truth.' She demanded.

He sighed. 'Oh my god, you want the truth? Yes, at times back then, you were, but I don't think I was any better. But that night worked itself out. I had a lot of fun, didn't you?'

'Well. . . yeah.' She said, rubbing her shoulder.

'By the way.' He smirked. 'You described it as a date just before.'

Sue went red as a tomato, 'I didn't say that!'

'You did! Just before!' Paulo laughed as Sue crossed her arms and huffed to herself. He had to believe, he just had to; there was a breach! 'But, man, in all seriousness; I know I fucked up a lot in the past, I've always known, deep down. I want to change. I'm trying to do things a little differently. I want to try harder with what little I've still got around me.' His hand came up to his head again. 'I never really gave you a chance back then. But you've always been there for me. I want to change. I can't be a better friend to you if you don't have the confidence that I can be a good one back.'

'I do have confidence in you.' Sue replied.

'Then I wouldn't mind starting out again and moving on from everything in the past.'

Sue contemplated it all while feeling the worst inside. That would be a second time she'd felt as if she'd gotten it all wrong again; first by trying to be someone she wasn't. Then by treating the relationship in a way that felt right, but admittingly didn't rub either of them the right way inside. She was so sure that it would work out well this time. She really wanted this to work out. But again, another mistake jeopardised everything. She mulled over what Paulo said to her. Wondered if there was some truth about it. She didn't feel at all confident that the relationship would hold out unless they went professional friends. They had their moments when things felt. . . natural, but would they go back to the way things were and ruin it? Paulo seemed to think so. She wondered if she could bring herself to as well.

Sue tapped her pencil on the table and thought about it deeply. She sighed, closed her books, and sat back from the table. 'I think I'm done with this today.' She told him.

'What do you mean?'

'I'm done with working on study for today.'

'You're not planning on leaving and going home are you?' Paulo asked, the blizzard outside and the earlier fight still in his mind.'

'Oh, do you want me to go?' Sue returned.

'No, not particularly?'

'Well, I wasn't either. So, I guess that means there's only one other thing we can do then.' She said, folding her arms.

Paulo tilted his head in confusion, he wasn't sure what she was asking.

'Aren't we going to find something else to do?' She clarified.

'W—What?'

'You're really going to make me spell it out for you? You were only talking about it a few minutes ago. I mean if we're not studying and I'm not going home, that means we're hanging out, right?'

Paulo still stared at her confused. 'But you said—.'

Sue stood up and stretched. 'I know what I said, maybe I was wrong about earlier. I'm giving you a chance to show me I'm wrong.'

Paulo felt unsure, that drew along his face, prompting Sue to squat down onto the floor next to him.

'What's the matter?' She asked.

He scratched his cheek, 'Well—I don't exactly know what would be fun for the two of us.' He admitted.

'Well then let's just try everything and see what works between us. Whatever you're up to do, I'm up for as well; It's your house after all.'

'Anything, you say?' Paulo flashed a grin.

'Paulo—'

'I'm kidding! I'm kidding! Sorry, I just couldn't resist taking advantage of the opportunity.'


	16. The things friends do together

Upon reaching his bedroom Paulo flicked the light on to his room. It was only after they had finished arguing with each other just moments before had they noticed how dark it had gotten in that time. It was almost entirely night outside, and you'd have thought as much if you hadn't known prior that it had only been _three_ _in the afternoon_. The snow-storm still raged on and showed no signs of stopping. Things were looking dire, Sue would likely need to stay the night over at this rate.

Dire times, indeed.

It was convenient the house still had power. Though, Paulo wondered how long that would last for. He knocked on the wood frame of the door out of instinct; better safe than sorry knowing his luck.

Sue stepped into the room close behind him. Unable to stop herself from scanning his room and feeling a little sad at what she saw; cracks through the walls, though nothing a good paint couldn't accomplish. Everything in here appeared to be from a different age. She knew Paulo was living on the borderline of poverty, but she didn't know what it looked like until now.

She had noticed the room was very clean. Not something she had expected, almost as if he had been expecting company. But Sue felt she was looking too deeply into it herself. Perhaps she should've simply known Paulo was simply a bit of a neat freak. Paulo's appearances were deceiving at best.

They were here in his room for a purpose, they'd occupy themselves with the one thing Paulo believed was enough of a timewaster that they could bond over; Video games. Naturally, his idea, and his only go-to for the moment — knowing that once upon a time long, long ago Lucy had once shared the same experience in the same room — the first girl he'd ever invited in, and recalling, she had a pretty good time. He was sure this would work with Sue, knowing that she enjoyed them too. They were a different breed of video game that she was used to, most definitely, but _surely,_ she'd played on something older than the computer she owned at one stage in her life. At least he hoped so; the one fear he held that what if she didn't find this as fun for whatever reason, be it the games or even how dated the system was. Then he'd need to find something else, and there wasn't that much to really do inside.

Paulo walked towards his cupboard and retrieved the box containing the ancient device in the lower corner of the bottom shelf. He'd decided earlier in the year it was better to pack it away when he wasn't using it. He didn't play it often as it was, but it was also so he wouldn't get distracted from his studies. That seemed to be working out for him.

He set it down on the floor before bringing the console out and the several lengths of cable for controllers, the connector to the TV and the power. He saw Sue standing beside him, he gestured to the bed, and Sue sat there patiently while he set up.

Geez, Sue; he'd almost forgotten that she was there for that brief second. It took a bit of time convincing Sue to follow him to his room. _No funny business_ , he promised. He'd keep to his word; he just didn't really want to set the games console on the TV downstairs. He felt his dad was disappointed enough in him. Paulo couldn't begin to imagine how he'd feel if he walked through the door at any time and saw video games connected to the lounge room TV. God, worse; what about a girl in the house to boot? Oh no; he would be _furious_ with him, for sure! Sue didn't buy his story at first, seeming suspicious of him, tiling her head and glaring at him as if he should rethink his strategy. But when Paulo begged she started to believe there may have been a chance he was telling the truth.

 _Ah_ , she lied to herself; _of course he was telling the truth_ , she just wanted to mess with him a bit. Paulo walked off with a huff up the stairs once he realised on the second attempt to persuade her. Sue put a little skip in her walk as she followed. She made sure Paulo never saw it.

'That looks so ancient!' Sue thought aloud as she stared down towards the small little device. She'd swore she'd seen one at some stage, maybe in an old magazine while she was at the doctors. Those ones were grey, this one was slightly yellow, an aged look. She had noticed a lot of the things in his room were of the same vintage, the TV in here had to have been a few decades; the kind of analogue TV with knobs. A real relic. But loved all the same despite the wear over the years.

'I've had it since I was about seven. It's way older than me. My dad got it just before we moved.' He replied as both joysticks were connected to the main unit. He turned his head back to her, 'I don't really have too many other choices than competitive fighting games, but some of these ones have cooperative play. Is that okay?' He asked, showing her the face of the game cartridge.

'That's okay.' She replied.

The first cartridge went inside, and Paulo flicked the power button into the on position. The game came on instantly and Sue sat next to him while taking the controller he held for her.

'Don't be too harsh with the graphics, it is from the 80's.'

'It's fine. Just tell me what the controls are.'

'Oh sure, so Jump is. . .'

* * *

'That is bullshit!' Sue yelled as she restarted at the checkpoint.

Paulo hummed in agreement and laid forward on the bed with arms folded. He'd died in the section before and sacrificed a life to keep Sue going on her own. The last life. 'You were really close! I've forgotten everything about this, it's been so long!'

'What the hell am I even supposed to do? He comes flying in from the side of the screen and I can't even defend against it!'

'You're meant to hide behind that Gargoyle at that part I think.'

'Wait, that green-ish grey thing?! How is that even a Gargoyle?!'

'How isn't it?! Look—' He got up and walked over to the TV and pointed at the blurry lines. 'That's its face and its tongue is poking out.'

'Geez, really? It looked like something completely different. I suppose I can see it now.' She admitted. She stepped into the arena again, at this time she had understood and likely mastered most of the dynamics of the game. She repeated everything she did until the moment she last died, until. 'I got him!' She cried out elated.

'Oh man I thought it was game-over for sure at that last part.' Paulo said, grabbing his controller off the floor and rejoining her; his character was alive again in each new level.

'Whoa, what? Our health is better than just a moment ago!' Sue noted.

'Uh huh, if you beat the high score for each level you get an automatic refill.' Paulo pointed out.

'Ah! Well that's convenient. . .Oh, hell, this type of puzzle. . .'

'You need to run and jump just at the rock before the ledge like this . . . _Oh come ON_!'

'That looked awfully close, thanks for saving me from a death!' Sue winked in her laugh.

' _Har har har._ ' He replied flatly _,_ 'Maybe it just after the rock? . . . There we go!'

He'd forgotten how fun this was. It really had been so long. There was a point in time where David stopped coming over to play the games at Paulo's house. Instead they just went to David's; the video games at his house were a lot more modern, and damned if they weren't cooler. Thankfully Sue hadn't frowned on the primitiveness of the game at all. If fact, she was more warming up to it. As helpful as the health refill was, it wasn't long before their luck would eventually run out, and a _GameOver_ displayed on the TV just a few steps from the final boss of the game. Paulo had to admit Sue turned out to be pretty good despite a lacklustre start, but even that didn't stop her from falling for the more trivial platforming death-traps, as was the case here. Paulo elected to change the game after being forced to restart in the stage before. This next one was a puzzle game, Paulo hadn't seen it before, there were these weird coloured orbs falling from the screen. It wasn't too obvious what they needed to do. Just before the screen filled up, Paulo managed to work out the game mechanics – four of the same colour in various combinations made them disappear and drop clear ones in Sue's play area. She lost a second later, already with a full playing field. Having understood that, they spent some time throwing clear blocks to each other's playing field – ones that couldn't disappear on their field and needed to be adjacent to the ones that could ' _pop_ '.

Then Sue discovered letting the blocks pop in a sequence, chaining one after the other. And then another, _and then another_. Paulo watched in horror as the indicator on his side of the screen started getting larger with each one.

'No!' He screamed out. 'I won't let you win!'

'Yeeeeees!' Sue countered with the most mischievous grin. 'I hope you're ready!' Paulo followed continuing to wail _no_ as he tried to copy her ability to stack the blocks, but he wasn't fast enough. She smelled victory, and would have had it too, had the power not decided to cut out at that time. A blood-curdling scream from Sue filled the black night.

' _Noooooooooooo!_ ' Sue howled. 'I almost had you!'

' _Almost?_ What kind of a joke is that?! You _murdered_ me even long before the move finished.' Paulo admitted. 'That was fun though!' He said elated. 'I can't believe I passed out on that game all this time!'

Paulo heard some rustling come from Sue's direction before the display from her phone shone into her face, she pressed a few more buttons and the flash on the back lit up the surrounding elements of his room. Paulo did the same with his phone. He sighed; knocking on the wooden frame of his door didn't save them whatsoever. 'I suppose the power was going to go eventually, it was just _when_.' He said to himself. He watched as Sue got off the bed and walked towards the power point and flicked it off before pulling the two cables out of the wall.

'What're you doing?' He asked.

'Being careful.' She replied. 'You don't want a power surge taking out your stuff.'

He made a sound in agreement. They were the only few things he had. 'There's not too much else up here. We might have board games or something downstairs.' He told her.

* * *

They made their way back downstairs under guidance from their phone's flashlights knowing that they needed candles lest the batteries in the phones ran out. And without power, that was going to be inevitable at some stage that night. Paulo went into the cupboard to fish for them and they lit several on the small coffee table before Paulo turned back towards the stairs.

'Where are you going?' Sue said, putting out the match she used.

'I'm just going to head into the attic, I just remembered it's where we hid most of the board games, I think. . .' Paulo replied. 'Any reason?'

'Just in case something happens.' Sue returned. 'To you, not me, I'll be fine.'

'Sure, just don't go opening any front doors.' He mused back.

Sue rolled her eyes. 'I really hope you don't intend to keep bringing it up after today, unless you want people at school starting rumours.'

'No, probably won't.' Paulo replied, 'But I'm gonna drive it into the ground as much as I can until then.' He flashed his trademark smile. When Sue's hand went to her head in pain he saw it as his cue to go and turned towards the stairs, making his way past his room to the small panel in the celling where the entrance to the attic was. His hand came up and pulled down on the cover, letting the small ladder slide loose and ascended it into the attic. Doing so, Paulo assessed that the easy part was all taken care of. Though, between his fear of dark-places, rooms that were already _creepy as fuck_ in the dark, and whether there were really any board games in his house, was now the difficult part.

Paulo couldn't remember the last time he ever needed to go into the attic of his own volition. In fact, the only time he could remember was when his father wanted to do some spring cleaning. It was well overdue for another, he'd noticed; as disturbed dust particles flickered in the light beam from his phone. The wind roaring just above his head didn't help the matter one bit. Neither did the white drapes over all the boxes.

 _Fuck_ , it was creepy up here.

None of the boxes were Paulo's, they were all entirely his fathers. They'd existed long since before his time; forgotten, just wasting away in the dust. Thinking about it some more, he didn't know what most of them contained. He might have seen at one stage during a clean-up. But that was clearly some while ago and he didn't particularly take too much notice. But why was that? Did they just not serve any interest to him? He pulled the sheet off the box closest to him, waving it in the air to direct the dust away from him the best he could manage, but all that did is make the dust worse.

What did his father use them for? He wondered to himself. Suppose he'd find out in time, since the board games had to be up here somewhere, and Paulo needed something to distract Sue, anything at this stage would be enough.

He went to open the closest one, laughing to himself once he realised his hand was shaking violently in the air. He really was out of his element up here, wasn't he? It made the time he went to see Mr Noodle a lot easier, though the pressure had felt much the same. He did his best given the circumstances and edged closer towards the box. When his hand finally made the distance and lifted the lid, his interest piqued as the contents came into view.

 _Books,_ old ones – novels. A _lot_ of them! He never knew he had this many in the house.

Where these always here? He wondered to himself again. The wonder lapsed soon after once he realised the board games weren't in this container, though he was interested he needed to move on. _Maybe another box_ , he figured.

His hand moved up towards the top of the next box like it had before, but it stopped in mid air. Paulo knew why, the entirety of his body's attention moved to what felt like a presence behind him. Forget the blizzard outside; the warmth against his ear did nothing but make him freeze to the wooden floor. The low-pitched growling noise that filled it made his heartbeat louder, surely, the presence behind him could hear it too at the rate it was going.

'So you've finally come back. . .big brother?' The voice asked him. 'I've been waiting for you.' It tried to plant a hand on his shoulder but grabbed onto nothing; Paulo had already thrown himself forward over the top of the container in front of him and onto the floor, screaming while he did so.

The voice exploding into laughter, almost hysterical. Paulo recognised it as he got up from the floor. He should've known better.

'Sue. . .' he grumbled getting up.

'Oh my god that was hilarious!' She screamed back. 'I've never seen anyone jump that high before!'

Paulo rolled his eyes before standing up again and attempting to regain his composure, 'You are _so_ lucky I didn't turn around and clock you. Are you trying to murder me? Was the game not enough?!'

'This really made up for it!' She said in-between her laughing, she wiped a tear from an eye before setting the candle she bought with herself on one of the cabinets next to her. 'Wow, it really is a bit creepy up here with the drapes. Could use a dusting too.' She commented.

'Yeah, I know.' He said getting up. 'Dammit Sue, I almost had a heart attack! What're you doing up here, I thought you were going to stay downstairs?' He asked.

'I came to see how you were going.' Sue shrugged innocently.

'As you can see, still searching. It's been a lifetime since I was up here last. Thanks for the candle, by the way.' He replied pointing to it. It was just in time as well, his phone's battery was starting to get low. He resumed his search once he was sure his heart had calmed down, starting towards the nearest box while Sue held the candle again. He opened it, then scowled at the contents, no board games.

He turned to Sue, 'I'm not going to hear what happened just before at school, am I?'

'We agreed that technically today never happened.' Sue reminded him. 'I prefer to consider this a level playing field.'

'Only now?'

'Found anything?' She asked, changing the topic.

'No, the first crate there is full of old books. This one seems to have toys I haven't seen in a long time. I've still got to check the others.' He slammed the crate closed and scratched his chin, 'No, seriously, why did you come up here? You can wait for me downstairs, right?'

'I figured you could use the help.' She replied nonchalantly. 'I was going to come up eventually.'

Paulo wasn't too sure about that exactly. He was sure there was a reason behind it. He wanted to know why. But to be honest, he was happy with the company himself. There was greater relief in that it was just her and not some long-lost sister which he never ever heard of, who'd been kept up here out of sight for all these years.

They resumed exploration of the attic, each of the remaining crates held some piece of Paulo's family history. Unfortunately; all unknown to him, and none of them contained any sense of a story to tell. Paulo sooner realised that there was a lot more to his father than he realised. They opened the last box together and Paulo's heart sank further into him; his memory had failed him, there weren't any board games. He turned to Sue when it was obvious at this stage and bought his hand up when she went to the first chest he checked. 'I've already checked that chest.'

'I'm just having a look again.' She told him, she eyed the contents. 'Ever wonder why your dad keeps all his books up here?'

'I have no idea, but. . .' Paulo replied bluntly, he shut the cabinet behind him 'There's not that much room downstairs to keep them displayed.' He thought for a bit. 'Not to mention, I don't think I've ever seen him read in forever.'

'They must mean something to him if he keeps them around. But why up here?' She through aloud, retrieving one of the books from the chest and looking at it briefly. Paulo thought to stop her; it was his fathers, he didn't want to intrude any further on his father's effects. He was going to, but Sue interrupted. 'Have you ever seen these before?'

'No, can't say I have.' He returned. 'Any reason?'

'This one has a message in the corner from someone.'

'For real?' telling her off became a lower priority, he brushed up beside her for a better look as Sue held her finger to the page he needed to read. He couldn't recognise the handwriting:

~Hi honey, Happy fifth Anniversary. I wasn't sure what to get you, so I thought I'd add a bit more to your collection. Hope you like it. XOXO

His eyes were wide open, 'Mom. . .'

'I guess your father liked to read at some point. See, even this one has something in it as well! But only a few of these books look like they were gifts.' Sue noted.

Paulo scratched his head, not sure what to make out of the situation. His concern became centred around disturbing his father's personal effects. 'Let's put it all back. The games aren't here I guess, come on, we're going back downstairs.' Paulo told her.

Sue nodded. They put the books back inside the chest and shut the lid. Sue picked up the candle again before meeting him at the ladder.

'Will you be okay with getting back down?' Paulo asked.

'Huh?'

'I mean with your arm. Is it any better?' He clarified.

Sue gave her bad arm a bit of a flex. 'Well, it doesn't hurt as much as it did.'

Paulo nodded, and slowly eased himself down the small step ladder before taking the candle himself and setting it aside before standing-by as Sue started her descent. She slipped just before she reached the bottom and found herself falling backwards, until a pair of arms wrapped around her and stopped her.

'Are you okay?' Paulo asked catching her in the air.

'Apparently my arm isn't all better at all.' Sue sighed. And after a couple of seconds; 'You can let me go now.' She said, her feet kicking lightly in the air as Paulo held her against himself.

'O—Oh!'

He let her down slowly. She found her footing and spun on the spot as Paulo pushed past her and started putting the ladder back up into the attic again. 'You were almost expecting that to happen, weren't you?' She asked.

'Can't be too careful with this house.' Paulo replied, 'Either you were going to slip, or the ladder was going to break or something. I don't trust this house as far as I can throw it.' He took the candle from the counter behind them and gestured back down the hallway. Sue followed in pursuit.

'Well, thank you.' Sue replied, and followed, snickering once she saw the dust from her handiwork earlier plastered all over Paulo's back. 'Hold up, your back is covered in dust. Let me get all this off you.' She said, brushing at him.

'Considering you were the one who put it there in the first place.' Paulo pointed out.

'I could've said nothing.' She mused in response.

'Don't be evil.'

'I'm not evil, it's only fair as far as my shoulder's concerned.' It caused Paulo to hang his head. Sue pat him on the back. 'Come on, that was a joke. Don't keep feeling bad over it.'

Paulo sighed to himself. He felt he couldn't shake how guilty he felt about it.

* * *

Paulo lead them back downstairs into the living room, completely sure there was nothing further to accomplish on the second floor. Only then had his stomach began another attempt to win him over for a second time that day; dinner was suddenly in the cards. It had been that time; they had been playing video games for a number of hours, it was already seven. He walked into the kitchen without a second thought, leaving Sue in the living room and pondered ideas of what to make from what he could see in the cupboards. He walked back into the living room once he had something, only to find Sue staring wide eyed into her phone.

'I—I've got reception!' She said excitedly turning to him. 'You know, my parents don't actually know where I am exactly. I should let them know I'm okay.'

'Y—yeah you should!' He suggested. His thoughts went to his parent at that very moment as well. He bought out his own phone and checked it. He had reception too, finally, but his battery was long on the way out. He had just enough power for a small conversation, maybe two minutes. He'd try to give him a call later, once he could think of what to tell him. He put away his phone and turned to Sue, 'Are you going to have them pick you up?' He asked.

'What? Absolutely not! There's no way in hell I'm getting them to go out in _that_!' She said pointing to the window. 'I'll just tell them I'm at a friend's place and they shouldn't worry.'

'Ah, Okay then. Should. . .Should I make dinner then?' He asked.

'That would be nice of you to get started, I'll help out like before once I take care of this.' She said as she tacked her mother's name in the contacts menu. She threw Paulo a glance as if to ask for a bit of privacy. He complied, walking back into the kitchen and started retrieving what would be that night's dinner. He hovered around the front of the kitchen, there wasn't a chance in hell he was going to miss this.

'Mom? Hey are you alright?' She said talking into her phone. 'Wow, the reception isn't great. Me? I'm fine. Yeah, I'm just at a friend's place, I couldn't get home in time. Don't. No. No mom! It's blowing a gale outside. . . . No, they'll probably have the roads closed off anyway. I'll spend the night here and walk home. I'll be fine. Don't worry. . .Yes, Yes they're okay with it. No. What? No! Don't make me say it, oh my god. . . Mom, I'm in front of company. . . You've got to—. . .Mooooooooooom.' She whined. 'All-right. . .all-right fine. . . I—I love you. I'll talk to you tomorrow. Take care.' She ended the call with her thumb. Sighing to herself and brushing her hair behind her as she walked into the kitchen to find her cheeks flushing as Paulo stood there at the counter, with the most cheekiest grin he could muster.

'Oh god you made sure you heard all of that didn't you?' She asked, flatly.

'All of it.' Paulo snorted. Sue had her hands out and was ready to jump him when Paulo held his own outwards towards her to make her stop. 'It's okay! I get it. Parents are parents, right?'

Sue calmed herself. She smiled to herself. 'Yeah, mine are pretty protective.'

'They're great like that, aren't they?' Paulo said warmly. 'My Dad's tried to ring me several times already.'

'You really should let him know you're okay.' Sue suggested.

'My phone's almost dead. I wouldn't get a minute.'

'Then use mine.' She said, holding her phone towards him.

'Use _your_ phone?! No that would send the wrong message.' He said pushing her phone back towards her.

Sue was puzzled, 'What do you mean?'

'Gee, I don't know, it might have something to do with me being grounded for the year?'

Wide-eyed, 'You're _grounded_?'

'Do you really think I got off scot-free for almost failing last year? Hell no, I've been banned for having anyone over!'

'W—Wait, was that the reason why you were so abrasive that morning?' Sue asked worriedly.

'That. . . and other things.' Paulo said feeling his hand scratch the back of his head.

Sue started to feel a little sorry, her ears flattened. 'Am I going to get you into trouble being here?'

'What? No, no I'll. . .I'll think of something. Never mind that now, were you feeling hungry enough for dinner?' He asked.

'I really could, you know?' She replied. 'What're you thinking of?'

'Burgers?'

'Again?'

'If you want a little bit of variety I can find something else if that was boring?' Paulo said. 'I just went with it because it was the easiest option.'

Sue thought deeply about it, stuck between her desire not to be an inconvenience but at the same time curious desire to know what other things Paulo could cook. And then again, the burgers they had before were something out of this world.

'We're doing burgers again.' She decided.

Paulo shrugged in response, smiling to himself as if Sue was an audience to his symphony; an encore it was.

* * *

He'd got it right this time, and complimented himself for a perfect blend as the spices and tastes swished their way in his mouth with every bite. He amazed himself, he really did. Why bother going back to school when he could just cook for a living? He glanced forward to Sue to see if she shared the same thoughts – and she did, as far as the food was concerned, salivating each bite as she did so. But there was no chance in hell she would let him leave school to try.

They'd prepared the food in the same manner as they had the first time without a single change in the detail; with Paulo cooking the meat over the gas oven while Sue cut vegetables on the counter. The four candles they used then found themselves in the centre of the coffee table. Paulo had a thought; you could almost call it romantic; just him, her, and a candle-light dinner. Almost like a miniature date. The audacity of the situation had hit him so hard he began to choke on his food.

'Are you okay?!' Sue asked, she was about to stand up to help but sat back down as Paulo shook his head and kept his hand raised up as he coughed.

Once he caught his breath; 'Just thought of something funny. That's all.'

He wouldn't dare say it out loud.

* * *

Their dinner plates found themselves in the sink after they were done with them. Paulo had begun to fill the sink only to then realise there may have been a chance the hot water wouldn't work. Sue stood beside him.

'You don't have to help clean up, you know?' Paulo said.

'It's only right.' Sue replied. 'Besides I wanted to wait to see how long it would take for you to realise you couldn't use the hot water without electricity.'

'How mean!'

'I'm just playing with you.' She said pushing him lightly. 'Too bad your kettle is electric, you might've been able to do wash up if it wasn't.'

'Well, the joke's on you; the house at least has a decent boiler, we installed it a couple of months ago.' He revealed, turning the hot water on and letting it fill the sink. 'Oh boy, aren't we wrong about something?' He said mockingly. He turned to find her glaring back, his heart dropped a little, 'Sorry, that wasn't what I was going for.'

'What _were_ you going for?'

'A light jape.' He replied. 'Didn't mean to refer to anything from, you know, earlier.' He gave her a little nudge, she returned it.

Co-existence for the moment.

He washed, she dried. It was a faster job with two people. That was bad, he needed to think of what to do next while he cleaned up. A real problem. There wasn't any electricity, no video games, no television (although even then, he wondered if the aerial could retrieve reception in this bad of a storm). He couldn't locate those board games. Hell, they probably didn't exist, his memory might have been playing tricks on him. Nothing was coming to mind.

'What's wrong?' Sue queried. It was hard not to notice with his hands pulling at his hair. In his defeat, he thought to at least come clean with her.

'There really isn't much else without electricity.' He sulked. 'I don't think there are any board games, and the only thing I could think of was TV.'

Sue's eyes lit up and her hands clapped together. 'Well, I was hoping you'd say that, actually! I should've mentioned earlier. . . but I bought one of the books back with us from upstairs.' She said as her hands went to her pockets and withdrew a small book. 'We should read it together!' She suggested gleefully.

Paulo was blank for a moment, he didn't know how to feel about it initially. That book was his fathers. Why did Sue have it? Without even asking him first. It was rude, wasn't it? Taking things without asking? He was sure that's what everyone would tell him if he did it. He thought about asking why she had it in the first place. Or even yet, how were they even supposed to read it together? It was such a small book. She'd have to rest on him to even look at it herself. How the hell was this going to work anyway?

'That . . . actually could be a fun idea.' He said, smiling at the idea.

All reason flew out the window. Did he agree because it sounded interesting? Or was it because he really had nothing else to suggest in its place? He wished he could choose between them.

Though, he wondered if it was the gleam in Sue's eyes as she held out the book towards him had won him over.

* * *

His arm felt sore after a while after holding the book out between them. It was the least he could do considering one of Sue's was no good for the job. Just them both, on the couch, sitting side by side. He went to turn the page but earned a harsh nudge from Sue, he read the page too fast again and needed to wait to her to finish. She told him it wasn't a race nor was he trying to cram the book. Hell, he didn't mean to, but Sue was leaning right into him, his thoughts and his heart were racing at a million beats per minute. Personal space invaded, they were close enough to breath the same air. No, this really was too intimate for friends. He'd already let his guard down for a moment and almost wrapped an arm around her. His only saving grace was when she flinched when his hand touched her sore shoulder, and he backed off as quickly as his arm came down.

 _What the hell was that?_ He asked himself. He didn't have an explanation, it all just went with the flow. It was awkward. He told himself to refrain. He mandated his guard would never go down for a second time that night.


	17. The feelings uneasy admirers share

_Goddammit_.

He swore angrily at himself. Somehow, both he and Sue ended up sliding off the couch onto the floor in front of it. His arm wasn't hurting as much now with the book closer between them. His heartbeat had gone back to normal too. Both visible problems; he'd gotten comfortable with all of it. He wasn't the only one who had either, he looked down towards Sue, her head resting sleepily against his shoulders as she read the book, she didn't notice him. Reading her tired expression, he supposed it was coming up to that time during the night. He checked his phone with his other hand; quarter to midnight. He'd need to prepare her bed at some stage, she'd be staying the night. Naturally that would have to happen in the living room, there wasn't another room that wasn't his fathers or his he was sure she'd be comfortable sleeping in. Looking back towards Sue, he felt a little sad. Clearly, getting up was the cruellest thing he could do that evening.

He closed the book and tried to locate the strength to stand. It was only when he started to move, Sue slowly started to wake herself, and upon realising she had fallen asleep next to him shot up faster than he could.

Paulo yawned, 'I'll have to—'

'Yes?!' Sue jumped.

Starting again, 'I'll have to start finding the blankets for your bed. I'd offer my room, but I'd presume you'd want to sleep down here.'

Sue nodded, 'Yeah, that's. . . that's only appropriate.' She replied.

He started to feel the cold. He'd only realised once he'd gotten up. No wonder Sue had cozied up to him. The storm hadn't died down at all, even this late.

It was freezing.

Suddenly Sue had changed her mind. 'Um.'

'What is it?' Paulo said turning back.

'Could. . .could you. . .' She shook her head. 'Actually, nevermind.'

Paulo folded his arms, 'Hey, I said if you needed anything I was able to get it.' He replied.

'Could. . .Is it possible you could. . .sleep, you know, _nearby_?' She asked.

'What?! Why?'

'I—I'm. . . .' Sue stuttered, covering her face with her hand, unable to find the words, or at least knowing what she wanted to say, but couldn't.

Paulo's bought his hand to his chin, then it hit him. He snapped his fingers. 'The storm, right?' He asked. It explained why she followed him up the ladder even with her bad arm.

Sue nodded, feeling a little foolish.

He didn't put too much thought into it. 'I suppose I can sleep down here as well, 'gonna have to strip my bed so we have enough sheets.' He replied. He turned towards the stairs. 'You're coming with, right?' He asked, picking up a candle.

Sue jumped. 'Ah. . . Yes! And. . .thank-you.'

It was _supposed_ to be Sue's bed, but all the pillows from the couch and all the sheets and blankets he could find in the house, but it wasn't enough for two separate beds. He was certain if Sue's patience would've reached its limit at some point that night, this should've been it. She would've buckled and let him go back to his own bed. There weren't enough sheets for both to be warm that night. He offered her more of his blankets, but Sue ended up suggesting combining them into the one. It was the only reasonable outcome, she determined; _killing two birds with one stone_. She said as much.

He wondered for a minute if this was a deliberate attempt to kill him in some fashionable way, he thought. He laid on his stomach and blushed to himself as Sue pushed into him from the side so she could have a better read of the book as well as he held it out between them.

'My stomach is getting really sore holding the book out like this.' Paulo ended up admitting.

'Sorry, it's not comfortable like this for such a long time, is it?'

He thought about it, he passed the book towards her, 'Actually; here, you can read the last few pages. I might just turn in and get some sleep, it's just been too long of a day.' He rolled over so he was looking out from his side of the makeshift bed. Sue mulled over the book before deciding herself that tonight was enough for herself included.

She put the book up on the coffee table. 'It has definitely been one hell of a day.' She said smiling to herself. 'Well, Goodnight.'

Paulo couldn't see a single thing in front of him for that moment once Sue blew out the remaining candle, much the same as earlier when the power went out abruptly during the game. It was well and truly black, and he was cold. While the house had insulation, without power nothing was providing even the smallest amount of heat that night. The storm still raged on outside and Paulo could feel the chill seeping in from the outside even under the blankets. His clothes and thick fur providing what was the last line of defence against a cold demise.

It was depressing like this. For a moment, he lost himself completely in the darkness, it made him feel alone. Alone and cold.

It didn't last long, he felt a pressure push against his back and immediately those thoughts disappeared. Sue had cozied beside him, her back against his. There really wasn't all too much room between them. Whether it was from Sue or his body flushing, he started to feel a lot warmer now.

He started to harbour a secret, one he wouldn't tell anyone else. He couldn't put past nor tell how great the feeling was to him right now. It had been ages since he felt. . .well, _close_ to someone else. What's more, they did everything together today, they studied, cooked, ate, played the same games, read the same book together. Hell, they even explored dark areas of Paulo's house together, something even he and the ever-curious David never did, who'd have thought? He was sure if he ever told him, David would be so jealous.

The day ended with just the two of them sharing the same bed.

It was different.

It felt. . .nicer like this. He couldn't explain it.

'Sorry.' He ended up saying. Feeling that he should at least apologise about how cold the house was. He felt Sue's elbow nudge him in the back.

'You better not be apologising for something out of your control.' She warned.

'No, but I thought it would be thoughtful to.'

Sue sighed, this was a depressing conversation. 'Hey. . .' she said suddenly.

'What?'

'Have you thought about what you're going to do after school?' She asked, some genuine curiousness in her voice.

He didn't immediately return a response, it wasn't something he gave too much thought about, at all. ' _If_ I pass school.' He muttered back.

She gave him another nudge with her elbow. 'Hey, you'll pass. You should start thinking about what you want to do once you graduate.'

'How can you be so sure I'm really going to graduate?'

'Because _I'm_ the one helping you out.' She argued back. 'Besides. . .not to let it go to your head, but you're already doing well from what the teacher's told me. So, be confident in that.'

He was silent as a good feeling flowed around him those words alone. It ended up lowering his defences, just for a moment. 'I have no idea where I belong.' He ended up saying.

'Huh?'

'I mean; no idea where I want to go.' He corrected.

There wasn't much Sue thought she could do with that, 'Well. . .you should think about where your skills might matter.' She suggested

He decided to give it some real thought after all this time. He never felt he carried any life goals or aspirations, other than graduating. He had gone to his father's work once. Construction was something he could do, even if it didn't pay that much. But surely, there had to be something else in life for him.

'What about you?' He asked inquisitively.

'M—Me?!' She exclaimed. 'Well. . .' She chewed on her thumbnail again.

'Well . . . ?' Paulo parroted.

'. . .I . . .'

'"I"'? he parroted her, truth be told, the anticipation was killing him. He imagined Sue having her whole life planned out before her. He couldn't begin to imagine what sort of ideas he could get from her.

'. . .Can you keep a secret?' Sue asked.

'You're asking _me_ to keep a secret?' Paulo queried with a laugh. It sounded more like a statement rather than a question.

A dejected sigh. 'Good point; never mind.' Sue said.

'Hey! I'm kidding. Sorry, tell me.'

In the back of her mind Sue weighed the odds of telling him, she took the risk. 'I—I. . .haven't thought of one.'

He was quiet for a second. 'Seriously? That's worth keeping secret?'

'You wouldn't understand!'

'What, it hurting your image?' Paulo asked. Sue replied with an elbow, Paulo wasn't expecting in that time. 'Ow! Hey, what was that for?! Look, nobody is going to judge you for that, you know.'

'Easy for you to say!'

'Oh come on who goes around asking this on a daily basis? I mean at worst, what? Their opinion that you've got your shit sorted is in every box but that one? Who cares?'

'I care!' She said, sounding a little distressed and unhappy with herself. 'I can't think of what I really want to do once we're out of here.'

'All-right! Geez, calm down.' He tried giving it some thought. 'You've thought about directing movies, right?' He suggested, trying to sound helpful. He couldn't see exactly what her reaction was like, but he was pretty sure she moped and rolled her eyes at the suggestion. He did catch the ' _Psh_ ' from her side, as if to say; ' _as if_.'

'Now what was _that_ supposed to mean?' He asked.

'I don't think I have the skill to get into movie directing.'

'But you made a play!'

'It wasn't that good.'

'What're you even talking about? It was _something_!'

'No.' She sighed. 'I've put all of that behind me. You know I don't blame you when you were going around saying it was boring.'

'Hey, I did not say that.'

'Don't lie.'

'I'm _not._ ' He growled back.

'You are!'

He twisted himself around and sat up. 'I'm not lying. I only said it once and I said it _sucked_ , not that it was _boring_.' He felt what was like lightening through his spine as if Sue had shot him scornful expression despite not being able to see it in the dark night. He thought to try harder. 'But I mean. . . it might have been better. . . if you cast something who wasn't Michael into the play.' He tried to joke. The feeling inside him made him feel like scum.

Sue snorted. 'Well, he was pretty bad.'

'Now if you had someone like me—' He tried to argue but was caught off-guard as Sue twisted around and replied with one of the pillows into his face in almost the same second.

'It could have _been_ you if you weren't too busy being an idiot!' she screamed back at him.

The impact knocked him over with such a great force. He found himself on the floor again. It knocked some sense into him, and he remembered, 'Oh. . . Right! Detention. . .' He felt embarrassed; embarrassed and awful. This was already not going to his plan. He didn't expect he'd fish so desperately for things to cheer Sue up with. He wouldn't get any further chances as the pillow came down onto his head again. He didn't expect it, much like the first one. 'Ow! Hey!' He yelled. But then another crashed down on him. And then another. He tried getting up to do something about it but felt something pushing him back down; a knee pressed into his chest and the pillow crashed into him a few more times. The only thing he could do was bring his arms up to protect the widest grin he could muster, cackling underneath the blows.

He found a moment of respite once Sue stopped to catch her breath. Paulo finally lowered his arms.

'Murderous rage sated, right?' He asked. He didn't even need a light to tell the Pillow was readied again. He flinched and bought his arms back up. 'Right?!' Paulo begged again. The pillow lightly bounced off his arms and fell between them without any real force, and Sue removed her knee from his chest.

'For the moment.' She said exhausted, she returned to her side of the bed and hugged the pillow to herself.

There was some amazement in him, he'd seen through the façade; 'You actually _do_ care.' He'd been right all this time. She _had_ gotten better at hiding it; until now, that was.

'You're an absolute _shit_! Of course I care. I always did! And it always hurt inside! I put everything I had into it!' She sobbed. 'Forget it, what does it matter anyway! Not that a different cast would've saved it. The whole thing was a mistake to begin with.'

'Sue, I. . .Come on, it wasn't that bad, okay? I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said.'

'Stop lying to me! It's all you ever said about it!'

'I—I just said I didn't mean it! I just. . . we were fighting those times and. . .I didn't actually hate it, I just. . .you know. . .'

'Just what?'

'I. . . I. . .I was fucking jealous, okay?!'

'Because of Mike?'

'W—What, no! No, I mean _envious_. . .'

'Of what?!'

'Of _you_!'

The storm outside seemed to die down at the same time. The silence would've been deafening if Paulo wasn't sobbing to himself as well. Sue was quiet under the admission. 'Why?' She asked.

Paulo rubbed at his eye. 'Come on, Sue. Really? How many of us could bring so many people together and do something just as cool?'

'You thought it was. . . _cool?_ ' Sue asked curiously.

'Yeah? How couldn't I? If it makes you feel better I constantly hated myself for weeks after the play for not being a part of it myself.' He wasn't sure why he was telling her this.

'N—No it doesn't, at all! I—I thought you—. . . but you said—'

'That I hated it?! I only said that because we fought. I—I didn't mean to keep saying it. _David_ was the one telling everyone it was boring back at school.' He sniffed. 'I can't. . .I can't. . .' He dove back into the bed and rolled to his side, clutching at the blankets, not finding the ability to finish. 'I'm sorry.' He whimpered.

'I should be the one who's sorry.'

Paulo sniffled, 'Why you?' He asked.

'I was really convinced you of all people hated it! Please don't ask why, but whenever people told me they didn't like it, it didn't bother me as much. But when. . . whenever you said it. It really hurt. I don't know why.'

'Why me?' Paulo asked.

'I—I don't know!'

'I'm sorry. I—I never really meant to join the bandwagon. I never agreed with it, but I found myself rolling with it anyway. I really loved the idea deep down. Fuck 'em! I didn't see anything wrong with it!'

'Paulo, I—'

'I mean, you should be happy.' Paulo interrupted. 'You made something so awesome. You should . . . you know, keep trying to do that, or write . . . be an author? Or something? I feel you're pretty good at it. You know what you're doing and what it takes to get there. . . I've been so envious of you for that.'

'Paulo—'

'You shouldn't care what other people think. Who's to say you're not going to do a complete one-eighty by the time you're twenty-five when you realise the life-long goal isn't what you wanted? I've never liked being told to think of a single thing I want to be, I thought it was always stupid! But I can't even think of one thing I'm good at! You've got something, at least; friends, an ambition. I've got nothing. I don't deserve the ones I have. I'll probably just keep flipping burgers well into my forties.'

Sue backed off and held the pillow against herself, tears rolled off her face in much the same way as before, but a small smile found its way across her face. Despite not meaning to open a can of worms, she had been waiting for this since forever; words of some value to her. Her heart told her as much despite. . .well; the lecture coming from the most unlikeliest of people she'd imagine. It was a strange feeling, she had to admit, her being the receiver. 'No. No, you won't. I'm sure some day you'll get an idea of what you want to do. You're working. That's not being behind especially with how much it costs to get into college nowadays. Besides, you're a good cook, you could always be a chef.'

'. . . I guess.' Paulo muttered into the blanket.

'I mean it! You know how to cook! I—I don't think I could do better myself, at all! Whether you can't bring yourself to like it, I thought you should know! A—And you've got friends! You've got Amaya, you've got David and . . .and—' She stopped. She felt sorry for herself. She lifted the blanket on her side of the bed and rolled under it again in much the same way Paulo did. She just couldn't finish it. 'I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ruin everything tonight.'

'It's not you.'

'It is, isn't it? It's bothering you inside. I can tell whenever you say nothing's wrong it's been anything but.'

'It is this time.'

'. . .I've ruined today for you, haven't I?'

'No.' He wasn't trying to agitate her, he just wanted it to be over.

'Why are you still moping into the blanket? You said sorry. I forgive you, okay?! Just. . . let's just. . .' Sue got out of the bed and sat on her side. 'Can we please talk about it, please? You're doing it again, aren't you? Please don't lie to me. I haven't. . .I haven't been friend to you at all, have I?' She poked his back with a finger to try and get his attention.

Paulo flinched from it, but he was quiet for a small while as he thought to himself. 'You have been a good friend, I was just thinking that maybe you were right from before.'

'Right about what?' If anything, she'd felt as if she'd been wrong about everything.

'You were right about earlier, we're always at each other's throats, and it's me. You were right, it shouldn't, you know, be like this . . .for both our sake.' He said on the edge of a croak.

That hit her the worst, it hurt all the same; all of it her words from before thrown right back into her face. 'N—No! No, I was wrong about earlier. This is what you wanted! The problem's with me; I can do better! I just need to—. . .I need to—'

Paulo sat up, finding his phone and using the remaining battery to illuminate the room on the single digit left in the battery. He turned to Sue, tearful, distraught, just as she was. 'You don't need to do anything! You were right! I was complicating everything by being selfish. You don't need to keep acting patiently like this just for my stupid desire. It's. . .It's my fault!'

She hated it all. Her fists balled tightly on her lap. She'd had enough. 'Just stop it already! I can't take this anymore!' She spluttered. 'If there's anything that needs to happen; it's you, forgiving _me_! This, Its. . . it's my desire as well! I really wanted to become friends with you since forever! I never meant to be so awful to you before. I just couldn't see a way that I could. . .God! I—I just wanted you to like me. Even when everything appeared to be going to plan I just couldn't even bring up the courage to be like the friend I really wanted to be!' Her hands went to her eyes, and she cried 'I—I wanted to change, I wanted to try! I wanted to change so bad, but I'm such a fucking coward.' Her head fell into her hands, and she sobbed into them.

'What are you saying?!'

'Can't it obvious for a change?' Sue begged herself. She looked back towards Paulo. 'I'm. . . I'm in love with you!'


	18. The way those in love forgive

'Y—You're joking, right?' Paulo asked, he wiped at his eyes before balling his fists and stood from the bed feeling anger as if the words she said just now had no meaning behind them. 'That's not something you can joke about just to make to make me feel better!' He said angrily. If she was just messing with him, he'd just. . . he'd just—

'I'm not!' Sue choked back, she tried to wipe away the tears herself, but they leaked out as quick as they left. 'I've always liked you. I wanted to let you know for so long but I just. . .I couldn't find the means for the longest time!'

Paulo felt his knees give way, he collapsed onto the bed. He just didn't understand. 'Why tell me this now?'

'Because I don't want this to end! Not like _this_! I don't want the stupid mistake I made when I thought it was necessary cost me everything I really wanted from day one!' Sue sobbed. 'I didn't mean to make you feel like I was bullying you when I was trying to get you to accept a side of you, or to push you so far away when we started studying together, I just. . .I just didn't want to complicate things when they were looking so good for you! I really want you to succeed at something, and I figured at best, the only thing I really wanted at the end was that you'd acknowledge me, but—'

'Acknowledge you?' Paulo asked, bewildered. 'Jesus, as if I couldn't? I mean. . .Sue you've. . . you know you've— You've kicked me a few times. . .that's for sure.' His hand came to his head, painful memories. 'God knows I've needed that in a sorry way, but why couldn't you have told me all this back weeks ago? I really thought back then when we hugged on the street I—.'

'I—I wanted to! Believe me, I did! I wanted to tell you then! But I. . .I got scared that if I got too close to you, I'd be a distraction! And then. . . and then, I'd. . .I'd do something or say something that'd ruin it. I—I thought instead if I at least got you closer to fulfilling your goal of graduating then maybe. . . maybe after. God, please understand it's not easy for me to admit this all at once!' She said in a panic, before it all became too much, her head went into her hands and she started to sob.

'C'mon Sue, don't cry again. I—I think I understand where you're coming from.'

'No, you don't. You don't understand!'

'I do!' He yelled back, before looking somewhere between Sue and the floor. 'I mean, it's. . .it's not like I ever made anything easy for you. . . or anyone else for that matter.' His hand came up to his head. He thought about it. 'God, I don't blame you for holding back; I would've done the same thing if I was you. I was a handful at the worst of times. I've given you more than enough reason to believe that. He looked back to find Sue in some surprise. 'What? You make it seem as if I hadn't ever taken one second looking back wondering if I could've done things differently. I do! I mean, sure; it took me some time learning how on my own. I left it up to other people to sort out my mess for the longest time; like you had with Jasmine. I wanted it to stop for the longest time before my luck finally ran out. . .and, well. . .'

His voice trailed off as he looked up to the ceiling. It felt nostalgic, for lack of a better word, of course, he'd practiced this. 'I guess. . . when you feel like you've hit rock bottom, I suppose you start looking up to find out how you got there.'

'I didn't mean. . .' Sue sniffled. 'I guess that makes two of us. I know the feeling too.'

Paulo shook his head, 'Except I was the one who made you feel that way! I want to do better, I really do! I don't understand what makes me to do what I do sometimes, but I want to change, but I keep—' His voice trailed off. 'I don't know why you bothered with me sometimes.'

'I. . .I've been the same!' Sue spoke up to him, she bought her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, 'I—It's not just you; I've been so horribly mean to you since the start of the year! You didn't deserve much of my shitty attitude even at the best of times. Like. . .like when we went to the movies; I—I didn't mean to be like that, really! I—I. . .I just. . .' She wiped a tear from her eye using a knee. Her shoulders shook. It hurt her inside when she thought about why. She felt he needed to know; 'Some time ago, a part of me wished the worst would happen to you — for all the times you were just a rude prick to me out of nowhere. B—But then it happened, and I felt like I had just as much to blame for it; I did so much to try and make huge changes around the school, but I didn't even try to do as much in return to my own circle; my own friends!' Tears rolled out as she thought back to those troubling times. She still felt like she could have done something back then. Maybe she could've, maybe she could've solved most of the problems with the others, but they'd never know. 'I always felt guilty about not trying s _omething,_ but I was too late. I—I just wanted to help everyone. And I wanted to help you most of all, despite everything before!' She sobbed, 'Because. . .because. . .I really liked you deep down inside.'

Paulo sniffled, 'But. . .but I deserved it, all of it! I can't begin to imagine—'

Sue's head came up from her knees, 'No you didn't! Nobody deserves that, Paulo! No matter how much they think they did!' She cried back.

'I deserved all of it!' He yelled back, tears in his eyes. 'I was terrible to everyone for the longest; I was terrible to Mike, Daisy. . . and you. I took everything for granted for the longest time! I—I tried to fix it so I. . . I couldn't. . .' The tears leaked out. His hands wouldn't be able to stop them, neither could they; had they been able to somehow get past Sue who dove into him first with such a speed, wrapped her arms around his neck and held him against her.

'You didn't!' Sue sobbed. She hated seeing people cry. This was the worst. 'Please stop. . .please? I forgive you for everything if it helps! Just. . . just stop crying!'

'Sue, get off! You don't understand. . . Get. . .Get. . .god dammit, why do you have to be like this? I was in the wrong! I never gave you a real chance! I treated you like shit for the longest time! But . . .I . . . Why do you have to. . .why?!' He asked as he sobbed into her arm. 'Why do you have to. . .I'm sorry. . . I'm so, so sorry.'

His hands came up and wrapped around Sue's back, he held her close.

* * *

Paulo emerged from the kitchen with a damp cloth and handed it to Sue after having used it himself in the other room to clean up his own face. He still looked like a mess, reflecting much about how he felt inside; still feeling shameful about the whole ordeal. As he passed the damp cloth Sue thanked him and bought it against her own face and wiped away at the mess her tears had left.

He wanted to know. Somewhere deep inside him where the pain was greatest, he just wanted to know; 'How long have you felt like this?' He asked as he sat down beside her.

'About my feelings?'

He nodded, feeling sorrowful.

Sue didn't have to think too hard, she smiled, 'I'd say as far back as long I've ever known you.'

'I—I didn't know!' He said astonished.

'It's okay! I mean, I didn't make a real effort to make it obvious. Not when I was just a kid to middle school. I figured I did quite well hiding it from everyone. I suppose that lasted as long as it did until. . . well, until people started connecting the dots.'

'What do you mean?'

'I think everyone figured it out over the years.'

'E—Everyone?'

Sue sat back, ''Suppose it was easier to work out over the phone than at school when it _looked_ like I wasn't as interested in the things you got up to. I'd speak with someone every night over the phone and. . .well, amongst talking about things we were looking forward to, or school. . .they lead inevitably to about you as well. How couldn't we?' She said, smiling, 'I guess I sounded too invested and interested in it to be anything more than a curiosity.'

Paulo gave a small light-hearted laugh at it, almost in disbelief.

'Please don't get mad.' Sue begged.

'I'm not. I mean, I—I'm surprised! I just. . .I can't believe I never really noticed. All this time?' He asked.

'Well. . . you _were_ preoccupied at times.' Sue pointed out. 'Work, David. . . _Girlfriends_.

His shoulders dropped once he came to think about it, there were times where things weren't going all too well yet they seemed to solve themselves. It was all too convenient when things went awry. 'And I'm pretty certain those times over the phone were working out how to make it so I didn't get into too much trouble?' He queried.

Sue shook her head, 'Nobody wanted to see you hurt, Paulo. You were just. . . so impressionable with the wrong crowd at times.' She hugged her knees tightly into herself. 'Nobody wanted to see you make some huge mistake. . .me included, deep down. We all really cared about you. But some help I was. . .'

He rubbed his head, 'Nevermind that, but what about you though? I mean, when did you start caring as much precisely? I know my memory sucks but I can't remember you ever trying to speak with me for the longest time!'

She sat up, 'I was shy, Paulo! I've. . . I'd never been good at making friends until the very end of middle school! I only just worked up the right about of courage to talk to Amaya on my first day and we'd been inseparable. But I always wanted more friends, I always wanted to be part of the group with Daisy, Mike, and Lucy, but I just _acted_ like it wasn't a big deal and then, I just became a regular face in the group before I knew it.'

'But I thought you, like every other girl was into Mike!'

Sue laughed lightly, 'Well, like I said before; it's easy to make everyone believe as much. But, I guess I liked him then as much for a small while too; I wanted to fit in, so I just followed the herd. So did Amaya and that made it all the easier. The _real_ challenge was whether it was worth the trouble getting involved in a love triangle with Lucy.' She gave another small chuckle at the memory, and smiled. 'I guess that happened if you think about it.'

Paulo thought to laugh at it. He couldn't forget how it was between him, Lucy and Mike. 'I really thought Lucy and Mike were going to end up together for the longest time. I was jealous, I just thought Mike was playing coy the whole time with her until . . .Sandy, I guess.'

'If Lucy didn't appear to have a chance with him, what chance did the shy girl have?' Sue continued, she twirled her hair in her finger. 'He wasn't the only one who felt off limits.'

He knew, 'Me as well, huh?'

'You were _always_ after Lucy, so I just. . .hung back from the sidelines.' Sue wiped away at the last tear. 'I think the feelings started getting stronger that one time we all ended up on the wrong end of town?' She said, unsure. 'Maybe a little earlier? I don't know.'

He remembered that beatdown quite vividly. He shook. 'That was. . . not precisely our finest moment for either of us.' he said. 'But. . .really? Back when that happened? I don't remember doing anything that was worth attention.'

'I wouldn't say that.' Sue smiled.

'Please don't tell me it was when I got my ass kicked?' He begged.

She frowned. 'What?! No! No, that. . .that happened; but it happened to _both_ of us. Paulo, you tried to stand up for me and the others, especially when I was getting knocked around! You tried to help me, and I started to feel. . .something inside. I—I didn't give it too much thought until a few days later when we saw each other again. And I. . . wanted to be nearby.' She said, smiling to himself.

Paulo sunk into himself. 'I must've hurt you a lot in-between then and now.'

Sue gave a light laugh, 'Yeah, well, you had your moments. There was a point in time I thought I had gotten over you a couple of weeks after. Then I became better friends with Lucy, and. . . the feeling came rushing back the more she talked about you and it started to feel like back then again.'

'I'm still surprised Lucy spoke about me that much.' Paulo gloomed.

'Well, everyone did.' She sighed; 'They all had this. . .bizarre-misguided idea that under this act of his; this orange-jock who never missed a beat with any bimbo in the school hallways, had this other side who strangely knew the right things to do or say around them that just made them feel out of this world.'

Paulo rose a little, 'Everyone said this?' he asked.

'Everyone.' Sue replied. 'Even Lucy.'

He glowed from it, a warm feeling, is this how his friends had thought of him? Even Lucy? Then he'd realised, it hit him like a bee sting. 'You weren't really kidding from earlier when you suggested I make up with Jasmine! Y—You knew whether there was going to be a real problem!'

The cat was out of the bag. 'She doesn't hate you! But she did mature faster than you at the time. You only needed space between you. I didn't want to be blunt with telling you this; but it was _you_ who put it in your head that you couldn't do anything about it. Besides, I would've told you to do the same thing anyway so you could put it past you.'

Paulo fell back, 'I didn't even try to _thank you_ that one time back at Daisy's place just after we'd broken up. That would've been the second time you've saved my ass. . .'

'Gratitude acknowledged.' Sue smiled, but then she frowned, and she began to look away.

'What's the matter?' Paulo asked, worryingly.

'Just. . . with everyone telling me a different story, it all became too hard to believe. Everything I heard from them about you never sounded anything remotely to the Paulo I came to know.' Sue looked up to him. 'I could help but feel a little jealous of everyone — I started wondering _what's wrong with me?_ '

'It wasn't like that!'

'Oh come on, it was pretty hard not to learn you had some dumb game to make out with at least most of the girls when we were freshmen. . . though, Lucy wouldn't let you, you didn't with Daisy.' Sue looked tearful again, 'And then there was me.'

His eyes were wide. She couldn't have known! 'That. . . okay, that happened. I won't try to say it didn't; but that was only between me and. . . David. David! Are you telling me he even blabbed about that?!'

Sue gave a mischievous smile. 'He was good at filling in the blanks.'

'I—It's not what you think!' Paulo panicked.

'I know! You don't have to tell me, David explained it all too!'

'Oh my god! This can't be real! How much **_DO_** you know?' Then he realised an ungodly thought. 'Oh god, come to think of it, your house, when you got up me over the game, the roleplay. . .you!' It all made sense at that moment, Sue knew enough without ever having been by him. 'But I still don't understand. If you know so much about me why didn't you try to say something back then?'

Sue sighed frustratingly, more at herself than at Paulo, 'I really, really wanted to! But I only wanted to do it in a way that. . . didn't make me look desperate! Even then that time I ran out from the library I was _still_ trying to find out why you never once tried to interact with me back then! I started to resent you by the time we were just starting the second year, I was ready to move on for real at that time. Then. . .Then Tess got me involved once she put it all together.'

'But you could've said _no_ to that; how did she even manage to rope you in?!'

Sue looked out to the side, she pouted a little. 'You think I could've?! She ended up figuring it out just the moment before she left! I must've dropped a few hints when I asked about it. Or maybe she was pretty good at looking underneath people.' She explained.

He sighed, that sounded like Tess, 'She was really good for that.'

'Yeah. . .well, she told me just before she left if she had a single regret it was that she didn't want to make it feel as if she lead you on all this time. She wanted to watch over you, see you grow.'

'Figures.'

'She really cared about you, Paulo! She just didn't want to see you hurt.'

'I know, I know. . . I guess the most infuriating part is that even now she's still trying to keep an eye on me from this far away.' He grumbled.

'That. . .isn't it.' She admitted.

'It. . .It isn't?'

'I—I told Tess I'd do my best back here while she was gone. She didn't force me at all. I—I just thought that was the only thing keeping her here from getting on with her life. I figured that's what she really wanted, so when I told her, she hugged me as hard as she could.' She smiled. 'I couldn't do too much, I'd tried to do what I could, just, in the smaller places where I could make a difference.'

A part of Paulo thought to ask about it more in detail, but inside he started to feel like he knew already; as before, there were times where things just felt all too convenient. He wouldn't lie to himself, on the really shittiest days, he felt like someone was watching closely after him.

A _guardian angel_.

It appeared to be Sue all along.

It was his turn he felt inside. Sue had told him everything she felt she needed to save what tattered friendship remained. He thought about telling her why after all these years, it was never easy to admit when you were wrong about someone, but he found a way. 'There wasn't. . .anything wrong with you, ever! I—I just felt you were too. . .smart for someone like me.' He said solemnly. 'I—I guess that's how I felt about Daisy for the longest time too I guess. She was one of the closest friends I had at the time, but I. . . I figured she could've just done better.'

A warm glow filled Sue. 'How is Daisy?' She asked curious. 'I didn't get her new number and she doesn't reply as often through email. She must be busy in the neighbouring city?'

Daisy had ended up moving to the city over near the start of the school year. Still enrolled at Roseville High; but doing all her work remotely. A student with such a distinction in her study and glowing future could only get so far in the small town. At some stage the question had been asked whether Paulo wanted to go with her; she'd invited him. But Paulo couldn't find the means to, he said _no_ , he just couldn't. It was difficult saying goodbye, but he wouldn't keep her back for his sake.

The truth had hit him as hard as it had back when he thought about it. There was never going to be a time when she could help him in his study. He was foolish as he was vain.

'She's doing well of course, for the most part. She keeps in contact. I get an email maybe once every week when she gets the time, but otherwise I think she's working towards where she wants to be. That's all I need.' He said, smiling.

'You know, I'd really thought—'

'We had tried for a small period. . .didn't work.'

Sue stared back, 'I—I wasn't aware.' Sue said. 'I—I don't mean to—'

'It's fine, we dated for a small period at the end of junior during the holidays, but. . .we broke it off when it felt like nothing special.' He sighed. 'Strange thing that; despite not having known what a brother and sister feels like, it shouldn't have feel like that; but it did.'

'You know I. . .I really thought you two might've been something. You both got along quite well!' Sue said, feeling sad for him.

Paulo shrugged, he smiled. 'I guess we decided to end it a week after, probably for the better once I heard she was moving to the town over. I suppose I couldn't help but feel that she was too smart for someone like me weighing her down.' He shook his head to himself, 'I thought about you much the same way years ago, I suppose after that I became pretty transfixed on Lucy.'

Sue's hand went to her head, the events from earlier stuck in her head, 'I wouldn't call myself smart. I only tried to act that way in front of you.'

He wanted to be supportive, 'Come on, you _are_ smart. Just because we struggled in the study earlier doesn't mean you're less as such. You're a different sort of smart, just as good!'

Another goodness flowed about her, much like just a little earlier when he finally told her his feelings on the play. She'd been waiting for such words from someone for such a long time herself, years even. Acknowledgement; real acknowledgement. She was going to cry again, this time in joy. She rubbed the side of her cheek, it glowed, she glowed along with it as she concentrated on the feeling. 'Thank you. . .'

But it was temporary, she frowned when she remembered, and the feeling disappeared, a sour feeling inside her took hold of her. It made her feel awful, rotten and simply undeserving.

A part of her felt it couldn't be stay like this. If Daisy's relationship with Paulo couldn't survive a week, what chance did she have, even after all of this?

'I guess. . .this is about the time you tell me it won't work out, huh?' Sue asked him.

Paulo turned his head, wide eyed 'I—I haven't thought about that! Why would you think I'd—'

'Because I _stalked_ you. It doesn't bother you?' She asked.

It did, deep down. Try his best, he couldn't deny it. All his friends had been behind his back making sure he wasn't making a complete mess of things. Patronizing to say the least. Deep down it felt insulting. Couldn't he be left to deal with the consequences of his own actions?

He caught himself in a lie; of course, he'd been.

None of his friends could force him to study. Now he was in this predicament he'd set up. So, there was that. No, guess he couldn't ever blame them for not having some concern.

He'd fucked up so much. He didn't know if he would've been any wiser if he'd come out without their help.

When it came to Sue's question, he could only answer honestly. 'Yes. . .' He said. a second later; 'No. . . I—I mean. . .I don't. . . I don't know! How am I supposed to feel?!' He said turning to her, tears formed in his eyes. 'I mean. . .you guys were only trying to help, right?'

She nodded, teary eyed, still feeling at odds with herself.

'Goddammit!' He said angrily, at himself more than anything. 'I wish I wasn't such a _fuck up_.' He felt Sue's hand come against his arm, but he didn't stop. 'I wish I hadn't run into those guys, I wish I hadn't been such an asshole to everyone! I wish I hadn't been such an asshole to you too! I. . . I just wanted. . .'

'I—It's okay Paulo.' Sue said, passing him the cloth 'You don't need to say any more. I didn't. . . I should've told you earlier; back then. I should've had some courage. I really haven't been as good as a friend. I should've been and been honest with you from the start.' She felt despicable deep down. Why, oh why couldn't she have just told him earlier?

Paulo wiped his face frantically. 'No, you haven't. . .' he sniffed.

Sue was tearful. But Paulo hadn't finished.

'You've been my _best_ and I'd have only wished I'd have realised it sooner.' He said, smiling under the tears rolling out of his eyes.

Sue sat back, slightly shocked. The truth had been she'd braced for the worst moments ago; she braced for the words that'd make her heart crumble. It didn't come. 'I. . .but. . .N—No! No! I stalked you! It was wrong! Y—you can't say—'

'I don't care!' Paulo shouted back. 'This is all so messed up. I just. . .I'd wished I'd been a bit smarter! I'd wished I'd _known_ better! It fucking sucks!' He stood up. 'You've been there the whole time! And I. . .I—' He sobbed. 'God. The way I've been to you all this time! How could you even stand to even love me?!'

'I. . . I just do.' Sue whimpered back.

'But, I've hurt so many times! I don't deserve you! H—How could you still?!' He pleaded.

Sue shook her head, she smiled, tears ran out of her eyes and down her face again. 'I just do!'

He stared back at her, astonished. Before his legs couldn't take anymore, he collapsed back down to the floor again. He bought his knees to his chest and sobbed into them. He didn't deserve this; this degree of kindness. He just didn't; he pushed her around, he called her awful things, made fun of everything she loved for as long as he'd known. He took advantage of her on numerous occasions, even months before (and feeling guilty to an extent). There was no obligation for Sue to have to stick around or try so hard with him, but despite all of this, _all_ of this, she refused to go quietly.

He shook as he cried. He wouldn't notice his phone had reached its breaking point; it tried the hardest it could, but its battery was empty. It finally died.

In the cold darkness he felt the warmth from Sue as she wrapped her arms around him like she before.

'I really just love you.' She told him.

* * *

He watched her as she went to light a candle. Neither of them was going to get any sleep tonight, the idea became an afterthought; there was still a need to talk, they needed to sort this out once and for all. But they couldn't talk in the dark, so she used the remaining battery in her phone to find the matches again. Only when the first candle did it run out of its charge like his phone had.

A mixture of emotion and feelings plagued Paulo inside. He desperately wanted to love again, _be_ loved. But he swore off all of this, he swore to himself he wouldn't dare until he graduated. The timing was so. . . impeccable. He couldn't look at her, he'd felt to embarrassed to. He didn't deserve her kindness. She'd done so much to help him, and he'd been a _shit_ in response.

It was so painful.

Sue turned around once the candle was lit. Her eyes met with his, and then they didn't; Paulo's looked to the floor. 'What's wrong, are you okay?' Sue asked, a little worried about him.

He sat with his knees to his chest much like she did, he rubbed his shoulders. 'Not really.' He said, being honest. How couldn't he? He felt she was the closest to him than anyone else in his most troubled time.

There was no uncertainty.

He felt her brush up beside him as she sat down. 'What's wrong?' She asked.

'I just don't wanna fuck this up.' He admitted. It hurt to think about it. 'Every relationship I've been in, I've messed it up one way or another. I told myself I wasn't going to do this anymore until I graduate. I wanna give something back to you for everything you've done, but. . . I really can't offer much.' He said.

Sue put an arm on his shoulder. 'We don't have to be a couple. You don't need to—'

He didn't let her finish, he felt like it would be a mistake if he didn't at least explore the possibility; 'But, I do.' Paulo said, turning to her. 'I really do. I—I'd like to! Really! It's just. . . I don't want to fuck this up. Not with a friendship this special.'

Sue's heart ached a little. 'I'm still surprised you think of me that much ever after everything I've done in return; I was really mean to you months before.'

'Yeah but who wasn't? I snooped on your game. But you helped get me good grade on that book report.'

'That report was all you.'

'No, you helped me get there. Not to mention, you know, helping me with other stuff.'

'Like?' She rubbed into his shoulder.

Paulo signed, 'Are you really gonna push me?'

'I really want to know!' Sue said eagerly, almost childlike.

'Like going to see some awful sappy romance movie, or the times you recommended I'd read those god-awful books and reach me more of your god-awful nerdy roleplay shit?' He said in jest. As Sue sighed, he nudged back into her. 'Honestly, the best fun I've had in ages.'

'We really need to find you a better way to open up more.' Sue said as she sighed again.

'Yeah, well. That goes both ways.' Paulo returned, only for Sue to stare back at him, cross. He didn't pay mind to it. He looked down and moved his hand over onto hers. 'Regardless of that, you're a life saver.' He sighed and gave it all some deeper thought, deciding to compromise on his decision from long ago about getting in another relationship; 'I wouldn't mind doing that for a bit longer; dating. I think that's what was missing from the last few times. Every other time we just dived right in before we . . . well, hopefully that'll then let you know if the hype was over-exaggerated.' He laughed.

Sue laughed with him and sat back, 'I'm. . .I'm okay with that. No I. . . I think that would be appropriate.' She said happily. She was happy that things didn't get out of control. There was a deal of silence between them, both sorry for how they acted, both not feeling good enough for the other.

'What happens now with your study?' Sue thought to ask.

'Hard to miss that I had been making good progress. . . but. . .'

'Do you. . . want to go back to what it was? The professional basis?'

'Is that what you want?'

Sue blushed, 'Hey I. . . I asked you first!'

Paulo scratched his head, 'Can't I just have both?' He asked. 'I desperately need a good tutor, I need all the help I can get through this year! But I wouldn't say no to someone spending it all with you. I mean, we can try to have fun studying, right?'

' _Fun_?' Sue said, suspicious.

'Yeah, you know, talking about stuff? Books, Movies, maybe even do things over the weekend?'

'O—oh!' Sue said, surprised. 'I thought you meant. . .'

' _Meant_ what?' He asked. He didn't need to let his imagination go to far, she couldn't have been thinking about. . . 'Did you mean making out?' It was the only thing that it could've lead to, he was apparently right, Sue twitched when he said the word, she blushed and looked to the side. He laughed, 'W—Well, unless you were okay with that! But I wasn't implying. . .hey, are you okay? What's wrong?' He wondered.

'Nothing, you've just. . .matured, a bit.' She said with a hint of a disappointment in her voice.

'Huh?'

'You're not making this any easier! I kinda thought what I said earlier was all that was needed; that I'd say I loved you, and you'd. . . well. . . ' She hugged into her pillow. 'Kiss me.' She muttered into it.

'O-oh. . . uh, is that something you wanted to do?' Paulo asked, curiously.

Sue sighed. 'Well, I. . . was sort of expecting it earlier, back when I admitted. . .actually never-mind.' She said shying away.

'It doesn't have to be in the heat of the moment. We could still do it now, you know? This sort of counts. But you. . .' Paulo said with the last part muttered, his voice trailing away.

Her ears rose, 'What? I didn't catch that.'

'I said. . . you can't blame me if you get addicted to it.'

Sue blinked. 'You're kidding.' She didn't really know if he was simply kidding or not. 'Off a _kiss_?'

'What?' Paulo held his hands out to the side. 'Kisses are nice!'

'I—I wouldn't know! I—I haven't had my first yet!'

'Then, would you like to?'

Sue blushed harder than she had before. 'I—I'm not going to say it outright! What kind of a girl do you think I am!'

Ah yes, this felt familiar like the Sue he knew. He rolled his eyes, 'Repressed! Just say what you want!' he returned, only to get a cold stare in response. He sighed and twisted so he faced her. That was the easy part taken care of. The rest would be the difficult part. He had a faint feeling Sue would balk at the last minute. God, come to think of it he could too; his heart was racing. He was going to kiss Sue. What the hell? Was he really freaking out about this? How did it make it any different to the past? He'd done this nearly a hundred times already, he would've thought he'd be used to it by now!

Ah, but he was simply lying to himself. Kissing was. . . _interesting_ to him.

 _Oh fuck_ , it was like a drug to him.

It always had this different experience with another girl despite it being delivered in universally the same fashion; always something new with each of the girls he'd been with. It was remarkable in that it—

He couldn't do it. He'd shifted closer to her while he tried not to focus on the subject matter. He let his instincts do the work; the result of making out with so many girls during his middle school years. His hand caressed her cheek, he bought himself closer. . . _and he stopped_.

'Sue, I can't do this if you're going to make that face at me.' He said, trying not to mirror her grimace.

'I'm nervous.' She stated flatly between her teeth.

'I can see! Just, relax a little. You know?'

'How do I even do that?!' She argued.

'Just close your eyes! And just, just give it a second before jerking backwards if you have to.'

'God you make it sound too easy!'

'We can stop if you—'

'N—No! Just, get it over and done with!'

He sighed, as Sue closed her eyes, he closed his eyes and leant in until his lips came upon a rest against hers. It was delicately done. They were like that for a short period until Paulo pulled away. The feeling felt. . .rather _bland_ now that he thought about it. Was it his fault? He knew what was involved in a kiss.

Sue sat there with a blank look on her face, 'Was that it?' She asked.

'Well. . . I guess how it feels is up to you.' Paulo replied, still unsure how it didn't feel like the other times, a little saddened but keeping Sue in mind, 'I was kinda nervous on my first too. So, it's fine, don't worry about it. There'll be other times.' He said smiling.

'Well now I need to!' She worried, 'Was I meant to do anything? I mean the books said—'

'The books? You can't put it in words; you just. . . do it!'

'That doesn't tell me anything!'

'Look, I don't know how to explain it. In the past, I just. . . I just thought about what that person means to me and I just _do_ the rest. I don't plan it, I can't explain it. I just think of what that person is to me.' He sighed, 'Well don't worry about it. There'll be other times. All you need to do is then just be yourself.'

' _Be yourself_.' Sue parroted. 'I feel like that something I need to worry about.'

'Oh come on, I'm pretty sure someone as _lovey-dovey_ like you can work it out in time.' Paulo smiled.

Sue eyed him suspiciously, 'Where on earth did you get that impression?'

He froze, feeling somewhat embarrassed. 'N—Nowhere!' He replied, inside he swore at himself relentlessly, he'd have thought that there may have only been the faintest of chance, Sue wouldn't give him time to explain.

'Paulo!'

He shrugged, 'It—It was a guess! You said before you kind of. . . _act_ a little bit like everyone around you, to fit in. So, I just figured you. . .probably have a softer side you're shying from.' Of all the lousy excused, he felt embarrassed, he _was_ just guessing at this point wasn't he?

'That's a long-winded guess!' Sue said, arms folded.

Paulo scratched his head, 'Am I really that wrong?'

'I'm definitely not that sort of girl.'

'You're kidding?' he scratched his cheek, 'I was sure I was right. That little piece of paper from the book—'

Sue's eyes widened, 'What paper?!'

'From the book you leant me!'

'What note? What note?! I don't remember a—. What did it say?!'

'I—I think it said _Romance is hard_?'

Sue's face exploded into a shade of red Paulo didn't think was possible before her head collapsed into the pillow. A muffled 'Noooooooooooo!' coming from it. Paulo couldn't lie to himself, it was the cutest thing he'd ever seen Sue do. He didn't say anything. He just went up beside her and wrapped his arms around her.

For just a small moment, there was a minor glimpse of a Sue he was sure nobody else in the world had ever seen before.

* * *

'Paulo, are you asleep?' He heard from Sue's direction of the bed. 'You're not asleep yet, are you?'

'No.' Paulo replied, still awake, but only just barely. After Sue was done crying from embarrassment into the pillow they decided they should at least try to get some kind of sleep. Back-to-back as before in the cramped bed, they tried to sleep.

'Do you really think I should give directing another shot?'

'I think you should, any reason?'

'Well. . .The drama club is late on announcing a play. I think people were expecting I'd come up with something new.'

'You should! At least then you'd be able to guess if it's in you or not to take it further.'

'Hm. . .' Sue said in thought. 'Would you come if I guaranteed a seat?'

'I'd be rude if I didn't.' Paulo replied.

'Thanks.' A couple of seconds later, 'Hey. Paulo.'

'What up?'

'I promise we'll try and find something for you before graduation.'

Paulo thought about it. 'I look forward to it.'

'See you in the morning.'

'Goodnight, Sue.'

He blew the candle out.


	19. Breakfast

**The previous chapter was updated with corrections. I would suggest a re-read but the whole idea is still the same. You may have noticed from it and the one before the writing style had changed somewhat, I was trying something new deliberately but it didn't seem to work as well. There were also** **some remnants of some text I rewrote which had snuck back in. I am a turning out to be a lousy editor.**

 **The need to fix all this and make sure the previous chapter read properly constituted for this chapter's delay.**

* * *

Waking up wasn't so much of an issue that morning; it just took until Paulo simply became sick of dealing with the light shining in through the living room curtains. Getting up, however, was proving to be a strenuous a task than ever a time before.

He just hurt all over.

It seemed sleeping on the floor even with the blankets did not quite provide as comfortable a cushion as he expected. It wasn't the greatest idea between them but with what options they had to them it was all he could do. He sat up and bought his arms above himself and stretched, feeling parts of his spine click back into place all at once as he did so.

 _No_ , he decided. _It really was a terrible idea to sleep on the floor_ , he told himself.

'Good morning.' He yawned aloud. He expected a response; a murmur or muttering about not wanting to get up that morning from a certain person. He didn't get one. He sluggishly looked to his side, noticing the sheets they both shared on Susan's side of the bed; although no Susan. There was a feeling of panic, it shot through him causing his eyes to shoot wide too. He quickly scanned the room, once his eyes found the bag that Sue had arrived with the day before in the corner of the room he felt his heart calm down along with a sigh of relief. It appeared Sue had chosen not to quietly duck out and leave that morning without telling him.

If that was the case, where was she?

No longer needing himself to work up the strength to wake up completely (the mere heart attack from fearing the worst had done that), he thought to go looking for her, but instead stopped when he noticed the sounds of birds outside. The snow storm was still in his mind. Forget about Sue for the moment, she wasn't too far, he became curious what outside. He stood up from the bed and moved towards the closest window and peered through it. His eyes opened as wide as they'd go. He couldn't believe how white it all was; everything! Snow! White for miles! He'd never seen it as bad like this! He quickly ran towards the front of the door for a better view, his hand extended to open it. . .

But he backed off once a thought entered his mind. He went back to the window, this time looking down and noticing the snow hanging off the bottom of the window frame. Another sigh of relief; there had to be at least several feet of snow waiting behind that door. Then an idea; he could open the door, let some of the snow roll in, then strip off and fill his clothes with some of the snow and make it look like he was buried under it. Could you imagine Sue's face when she walks down the door and notices it?

Oh my god; he was onto something brilliant.

He started to remove his jacket, only to stop a short few seconds later. He realised this wouldn't be funny; Sue would come down the stairs, she'd expect him to still be sleeping, she'd not see him in the bed but what appeared to be his body under the snow over by the door. She'd be mortified. She'd cry out and try to dig him out. He'd come out from behind the couch. . .

. . .And she'd probably never talk to him again. Or she'd try to kill him, he wasn't sure which.

He sighed, and the jacket came back on again while the younger Paulo inside of him screamed out in agony. One day it would thank him. Regardless, there wasn't any chance in hell they were leaving the house at this hour.

The only other thing he could think about that morning was Sue's whereabouts. Not smelling any resemblance of food in the air (or food burning, which was a plus) indicating Sue was attempting to make up for the previous day trying to cook him a breakfast. He could only guess she might have gone to take a shower. So, he went there; up the stairs and made his way over towards where the bathroom was. His hand came up against the door. 'Sue, you in there?' He asked.

'I am! I'm just about to take a shower.' The voice came back.

Some relief flowed into him, though he really wondered how it was she left the bed without him even realising that morning. 'Okay. Do you have a towel? There were a few in the linen cupboard.' He said back through the door.

'I found them! Thank you!'

He looked to his right. The cupboard was only just ajar. He scratched his cheek with a finger. 'How about your arm? Any better?'

'Don't worry about it!'

'I'm just—'

'It's fine!'

'A—Alright!' He stammered, not particularly noticing he was simply lingering about the door at this point, until there was a sudden feeling of something he was forgetting — something important. 'Um. . . is there anything else you need?' He asked, hoping to buy him some time to remember.

'Privacy?' The voice came back.

He blushed, 'O—Oh, right! Sorry! I'll make breakfast downstairs then!' he said, he hastily turned and aimed for the stairs again. It was when he descended them completely he finally remembered. A hand came to his head. He turned around as fast as he could and bolted up the stairs again, he ran to the door and yelled out; 'Sue! Let the water run before you—'

He was drowned out immediately by a high-pitched scream from the bathroom. After it finished. He didn't say anything. He silently turned and walked down the stairs, went into the kitchen, and retrieved the fry pan and the pancake mix from the cupboard. He turned on the gas stove and got to work on the pancakes. He didn't think about anything else.

He wondered if staying downstairs and doing the joke he thought of earlier would've been better. Either way he started to fear for his life. Hopefully, if breakfast was _just_ good enough, Sue wouldn't kill him.

'Good morning!' Paulo said cheerfully with the largest smile he could muster glued on his face, as a dressed Sue in much the same way as yesterday made her appearance a short while later, joining him in the kitchen.

'Good morning' Sue grumbled in return.

Paulo couldn't help but feel that; just somehow, Sue was maybe a _little_ pissed at him; her arms were folded, her ears were down, and she was glaring at him with, what Paulo almost felt convinced of that, was comparable to almost the greater scorn of the universe. But his smile did not waver, even with the sweat forming across him.

He pointed towards the pan, 'I've made pancakes,' he said, hoping to defuse the situation the best he could. In the time it took for Sue to dress herself and leave the bathroom, the table had been set along with the appropriate cutlery for two. There were enough pancakes. Hell, he even found the maple syrup hiding in the cupboards; he thought that had been lost forever. It may have helped that he had the time thanks to what he assumed was the time it took for Sue to redress. She lied again, but of course, she just didn't want him to worry. That was her nature but god it didn't help him one bit inside.

Sue's eyes darted towards the pancakes on the plate, 'Great,' she said with the same flatness as before. Her eyes she returned to Paulo and in the calmest voice she could muster; 'I thought you said your boiler was working the other night.'

'It does. But there's something wrong with the pipes to the bathroom. I was going to warn you, but the thought came too late.' He said, ears falling flat.

'Old house with old pipes.' Sue thought aloud to herself. 'Should've known better.'

'Sorry.' Paulo said, remorsefully.

'Thin walls too.' Sue said.

'Well, I was right outside the door, but the pipes do carry the vibrations around to parts of the house.' Paulo pointed out.

'Huh.' Sue said.

There was a peace for the moment, _he'd won_ , he thought to himself. The situation had been defused.

It wasn't.

Sue turned to him and frowned with a glare. She walked closer, stamping her feat as she approached. Jesus Christ, the pancakes didn't even tempt her. Good lord, he knew fear quite well; Barking phobia was one thing, the wrath of a girl was the next. He was going to die. Right here; in his own kitchen. Along with a complete breakfast. There was nothing he could do to stop it.

'Sue. . . Sue, I said sorry. S—Stop! You can't seriously—' He tried to plead.

'You _heard_.' She muttered as she got closer. She pulled up her fists causing Paulo to flinch. He closed his eyes and waited for impending death—.

'Two for flinching.'

'What?!'

 ** _*Whack* *Whack*_**

He eyes were as wide as they'd go as Sue landed both punches against the side of his shoulder. It didn't hurt, _much_. He was far distracted with the amount of gall Sue had to do that. His jaw dropped as Sue brushed past him and took her seat. He was aghast to say the least. 'Oh my god! That was mean!'

'Consider that even.' Sue said, her eyes closed as she worked the knife and fork into the pancake.

'For what?!' Paulo whined back. He found his own seat opposite her.

'My arm.'

Figures, he'd known she'd blame him at some stage, he leant his head against his hand. 'I suppose it was just going to be a matter of time before you would blame me for it.'

'I'm talking about my other one.' Sue pointed out as she moved it in circles. 'It's just as sore from sleeping on the floor.'

'Well, I'm sorry that wasn't the best idea I could come up with; I _had_ offered _my_ bed, remember? Besides, you slept on most of the good cushions.' He pointed out.

'Oh, I did?' Sue said, she looked towards the ceiling thoughtfully while she munched down on the pancake. 'Suppose you're right, that one against my back was very soft, one of a kind.' She said looking at him.

'I'm not—'. He was going to react poorly to it. Shit, how couldn't've he? He wasn't soft. But then there was bewilderment when he realised, his frown disappeared and was replaced with something of astonishment, he froze along with it like he stumbled upon some amazing discovery.

Good god, maybe he did!

'W—Was that a flirt? Are you trying to flirt?' He asked. His frown turned into a grin, something of pure joy. 'Oh my GOD!' He bellowed into laughter.

'Alright. You can stop now.' Sue said, sinking into the table with embarrassment.

'After that?! Are you kidding?' He continued to laugh. 'That was, oh my god!'

Sue let her head fall into a hand, she didn't want to show it, but she was on the verge of crying. What was a last minute save from an eventual fight was something she'd thought for a second would never come from her. There was no saying where that came from, she just _said it_. For a brief moment she thought it was like some kind of holy shining light to bring them away from disaster, but _oh my god_ ; that was not it! A pickup line, from her?! Unthinkable! And even then, to Paulo; a boy she couldn't tell until just a few hours ago if she hated or deeply loved inside.

 _Where on earth did it come from?_ She pensively asked herself.

Never-mind the fact they made up last night, she couldn't get past the feeling she had said something so stupid and unlike her. She was going to die from embarrassment. And she would've too, hadn't Paulo's arms wrapped around her, having noticed her dilemma somewhere between the breaths in his laughter.

'I'm sorry, I'm sorry! You caught me off guard! I wasn't expecting it! It was. . .just cute!' He laughed as he hugged into her.

'Cute?!' Sue yelled back somewhere between anger and embarrassment.

'I had no idea you had it in you!' Paulo continued to laugh.

She had enough, the embarrassment was gone, she was furious again. 'Let go, I'm going to hit you so much.'

'Well, if it makes you feel any better from earlier.' Paulo said beneath a snicker.

Sue was going to comply, she rose both her fists and was going to lay into him, all before a noise resembling a snort snuck out between her lips before it turned into a laugh on its own. 'It was a pretty good scream earlier, wasn't it?' She asked, 'I've _never_ made a sound like that before! And it's all your fault!' She said as she started jabbing him lightly in the stomach when he started laughing again.

'That was still the best thing I've ever heard. . .Oh my _god_!' He held onto her tightly, there was no chance in hell he was letting go. There were multiple reasons why. She'd realise in any time now. And she did a second later:

'You planned this! You've had to! You knew I'd get in the shower at some point! You fed me a lie!'

'Guilty! But you lied first!' He continued to laugh, 'This was revenge for all the kicking you did during our study yesterday!'

'You _shit_!' Sue screamed loudly amongst her laughter. 'You mischievous shit!' She pushed him off. 'Where's the frying pan. You better start running.' She said pointing to Paulo as he stood up from the floor.

Paulo held his hands up to her and begged his life for a draw.

Remarkably, that appeared to have worked.

* * *

They talked together that breakfast in good spirits. Continuing the discussion from the previous night, talking more about friends who had since left their company, and then to Sue's upcoming play as she then had to put some real thought into what she wanted to do for it. Breakfast was done once the pancakes were all gone. They didn't bother cleaning up from the kitchen; Paulo would do that once he'd gotten back after taking Sue back home, but they at least cleaned up the living room back to its prior state before her intrusion (though, upsetting Paulo when she would refer to it as that). Sue squeezed her beanie back over her head while Paulo helped her with her jacket and her bag as they stood near the front door in the living room. Paulo had thought it was just a girly thing to take so much time in the bathroom, but it had been obvious she was still struggling with her arm.

'Really, how bad is it?' Paulo asked, hoping she'd come around this time with the truth. He thought he was bad with it; the truth. Sue was clearly worse, probably out of a belief she needed to since it wasn't his fault. Naturally, he'd gotten the same answer he'd gotten for the past day and some.

'Same as every time I've said it before; it's fine.' Sue said, the story ever unchanging.

He rolled his eyes, 'Come on, Sue, I'm not buying that. You hardly use it, even at the table this morning; tell me the truth.'

Sue wavered, she bit her lip. 'It's a little painful to move at times.' She said rubbing it a little with her other hand. 'I don't know if it's just muscle that's sore, or bone. Once I get home I'll probably try getting it looked at. It can probably wait until early Monday. I mean, nothing bad happened last night, so it can wait until then.' She looked up at him. 'Are you satisfied?'

Paulo nodded, 'Thank you.' He still felt a bit sad inside, a bit guilty.

'And don't feel that it was your fault. It was just the luck of the draw that it happened.' Sue said. 'Come on, we better get going.'

Paulo nodded and turned to open the front door, and both stared in some astonishment at the amount of snow that had piled against it. It had still seemed to be over a meter high, though Paulo suspected some might have melted during Breakfast that morning. He kicked at it to try and clear the doorway, before then trying to scoop it up in his hands and shovel it further in front of them. He jumped through the door frame and extended a hand back to Sue as she climbed up herself. The process then was Paulo trying to clear a way to the path at the front of the house, there was less snow there. He held Sue's hand as he slowly guided her to the foot path. Once there, standing in only a mere inch of snow, they would have said their goodbyes, had a car not pulled up out the front of the house at the same exact second.

Paulo recognised the car immediately, 'Oh hell. . .' he whispered.

'What's wrong?' Sue said turning to him.

'I forgot you're not supposed to be here; nobody is supposed to be here other than me. I'm grounded, remember?' He said turning to her.

Sue gulped, if they'd only been a couple of minutes sooner.

The driver's side of the car's door opened as soon as the car came to a stop, Paulo's father stormed out just as fast. He'd seen them both emerge from the house as he made his way through the street. To the two of them, he didn't look at too well impressed. Paulo felt all he could do now was face the music.

'Hi. . .dad' Paulo said worriedly as his father walked up to them.

'Don't " _Hi_ " me. We agreed, you were grounded until your grades improved. Who is this, and why was she in the house?' He asked him with a stern voice.

'Um. . . This is—.' He stammered, before Sue cut in.

'I'm your son's tutor.' Sue said plainly, but in her best manners. If there was going to be any chance of Paulo surviving his father's wrath, it would be up to her. 'I'm Susan, nice to meet you.'

Surprise washed over his father's face, he rose a little at the revelation. 'Tutor? We couldn't afford a tutor from the school.' He said.

'I'm volunteering on behalf of the school. I happen to be in the same classes. I've been helping Paulo with his studies at school and every weekend at the Library since the term started.' Sue continued to explain.

'Are you now?' His father said. His gaze went from Sue to his son, and back again, 'What were you doing in my home this early of the day?'

'Ah. . . about that; we had met up at the library yesterday, but we were kicked up about the time the storm was picking up. I live further away, so Paulo suggested we come here to continue studing, we just didn't expect the storm to go for as long as it did.' Sue said, continuing as best she good to sound convincing.

Another glance towards Paulo, this one prolonged as if expecting a response. Paulo reciprocated, swallowing, and nodding. It was the most he found himself being able to do, despite it only being half of the truth. He supposed his father didn't need to know about how she was almost killed by the force of the front door.

'I see.' His dad frowned, he turned towards his son, 'Paulo, take the bag from the back of the van up into the house and up to the attic. I need a word.'

Paulo turned towards Sue. She smiled back and nodded. Paulo turned back to his father, 'Alright.' Paulo muttered, he moved between them and into the back of the van, and dragged the bag through the snow into the house.

Once Paulo had disappeared out of sight, his father turned to Sue. 'He didn't try to do anything funny did he?'

'I'm sorry?' Sue apologised, sounding puzzled and did her best to appear a bit shocked at the question as quick as it came. 'No, of course he hasn't. Why would you ask me that?'

He appeared slightly embarrassed, 'N—No reason. I'm just. . .' He sighed. 'I suppose I'm really just worried about him. How is he doing with school?'

Sue looked from Paulo's dad to the front of the house. She smiled. 'He's doing well, actually. He's already shown rapid improvement. He could well graduate the year.' Sue said supportively.

A sigh again, but one of relief 'That's good.' He said elated, and after a moment, 'And. . . outside of study?' he asked.

'Sorry?' Sue asked again.

'Is he coping well, does he have many friends at school?' He clarified, his voice carrying some worry. 'Paulo's never spoken much about his personal life around me. I only learned from the staff some of his close friends had moved away and I thought that might have been affecting him. More-so than usual, but. . . he never tells me anything. I never made an' effort keeping up with him. I figured it'd be best to let 'im live his life the way he wanted to.' Sighing again, 'Starting to think I might have failed him as a parent.'

Sue looked down towards the snow-covered footpath where Paulo once stood beside her, she swayed left to right while she felt a little sorry for the two of them. She didn't know how to address any of that at such short notice.

Paulo's father shook his head, seeing mistake, 'Ah. . . Look I didn't mean to put all of that on you, I just thought—'

'That's not it at all!' Sue said back aloud. 'He looks up to you! It's true that things have been a bit hard on him lately, but the rest of us are doing our best to help him! You should talk with him, let him know you're there.' She suggested.

Paulo's father looked back in a sad state, but it lied as best as it could, he felt something as close to being awestruck.

Paulo emerged from the front door at that very same moment. 'Okay, that's the first bag.' He said, only to be stopped by his father's arm cutting in front of him from moving past them to get to the next.

'Before I pulled up what were you just about to do?' His father asked.

'S—Sue was getting ready to walk home.'

'Dangerous given the amount of snow that's fallen.' He said, he turned to Sue, 'You can't stay for a couple more hours until the snow melts?'

'I'd love to, but my parents are probably worried about me.' Sue said.

He nodded, then turned to Paulo, 'Change of plans.' He started; 'Walk your friend home.'

Paulo blinked, 'Huh?'

'It's okay, you don't—' Sue tried to say, but stopped when Paulo's father shook his head.

''Wouldn't sit with me if you ran into a problem on the way home, the snow might be melting but it's still not as safe to be out by yourself. I'd offer to drive, but only the main roads are cleared up and it was a slippery journey here as it was.' He turned to Paulo. 'Don't worry about the bag, I'll take it. Make sure she gets home safely; that's your job. Then run home, we've got some things we need to talk about.' His father walked past him, but not before resting his hand on his son's shoulder as he entered the house.

Paulo blinked from the side-path, 'O—Okay, dad.' He called back to him, he turned to Sue, 'C'mon, I'll walk you home, let's go!' He said, walking ahead without a second thought.

'A—Ah! Wait up!' Sue said, closely following behind.

* * *

They didn't say anything for the first couple of minutes during the walk. It was only once the house was no longer in sight Paulo was the first to breathe a sigh of relief, 'I really thought I was going to get it just then.' He said, amazed. 'You have no idea what my dad can be like.'

Sue didn't see much of anything to worry about, 'I have a feeling you don't either.' She smiled. 'You're not afraid of him, are you?' She asked curiously.

'N. . .No.' Paulo said, standing still and thinking about it deeper. 'No, I suppose not. I just never meant for him to be so upset at all of this.' He scratched the side of his face. 'What do you mean just before?'

'He seemed really nice. I can see why you look up to him.' Sue said with a smile while they sloshed through the snow. Then she elbowed him, gently, but enough to cause him to recoil from the blow. 'But you should really let him know how you're going! He was only worried about you!'

'R—really?' Paulo said, holding his side.

'Yes, really! Do you mean you never noticed?!'

'I—I. . . come on, I was in a bad place! Besides, we're gonna have a talk when I get back anyway. I have that much to look forward to.' He said in a half sarcastic tone to go along with it. His shoulders fell when he caught Sue staring back depressed at his attempt at cheek, he almost felt offended. 'You know I'm kidding, Sue; it's fine. I should've probably let him know when everything went to shit.' He stared down towards the pavement. Really, if there was anything that he could've done back then to avoid all of this, it would've been at least talking with his dad.

He looked over towards Sue as she leant into him, her head rest against his shoulder and her arm wrapped around his to his hand. They kept like that until they reached Sue's neighbourhood.

'Here's far enough.' Sue said, stopping them no more than a few hundred meters from her house. 'I really don't want you to meet my parents at their worst. You met mom years ago that one time, she can be a bit of a worry wart when things like this happen.' Her hand went to her face as she flushed when she only just remembered, '. . .Not to mention I didn't _quite_ let her know I was over at a boy's place.'

Paulo laughed and shook his head, 'Aren't parents great like that?'

'Yeah, they are.' Sue laughed once the embarrassment had washed away.

They didn't say anything after that, they simply found themselves watching one another.

Paulo finally ' _ummed_ ', breaking the ice, 'So. . .' Paulo said.

'So.' Sue returned.

'Um. . . What should we say tomorrow?'

' _Good morning._ ' Sue said, as if the answer was obvious.

'Not to each other. I mean to everyone else.'

' _Good morning_ to them as well!'

He shook his head. She wasn't getting it! 'That's not what I mean! Do we tell them we're. . .you know, _a couple_ now?'

Sue sighed, 'I suppose they don't need to know, do they? Besides, with what's been spread around at school already I wouldn't really think they'd have thought otherwise!'

Maybe Sue did understand him, Paulo conceded. There had been a point in what she said too; the rumours that _had_ been circulating had made people expect it was all something as much. He frowned, 'Not sure if I'd like them making such a big deal out of it.'

Sue crossed her arms, 'So only now that _we're_ a couple you want to keep it private?' She asked.

'What?!' Paulo jerked up straight, his eyes were as wide as his frown. 'Isn't that what you wanted?!'

She leant forward towards him, in her best curious voice; 'You're not embarrassed about dating me, are you?'

'What? No! I'm not! It's just—'

'Just, what?' Sue parroted. It didn't show, but she was sure she was quite eager to know more about what he thought about them together. Paulo had realised she was messing with him.

'Cut it out! It's not like I had much in a say in how people learned about those other times.' He said flatly.

'I know, just teasing you.'

'You could do it without being so mean!'

Sue grinned, taking it like a compliment before coughing into her fist and bringing her hands to her hips, and resumed. . .well, being her normal self; 'Ignoring all of that, this will work in our favour anyway; it won't be too much of a distraction at school. Things won't be any different.'

His heart felt a little sore. They'd already spoken about this over breakfast. He thought he'd better ask her again just to make sure; 'Are you sure you want it like this yourself? Feels kind of anticlimactic after all the effort you put in earlier.'

She was quiet for a moment, eventually her hands went back to her sides, 'No, suppose in any other circumstance I wouldn't, but the situation calls for it. We can't afford too many compromises, and it does appear to be working; You _are_ doing better. Anything that puts this at risk is something we need to avoid, like. . .' A hand came to her chin as she thought. 'Like, um. . .'

' _Me_ being _me_?' Paulo queried, the conversation appeared to be heading in that direction.

Sue folded her arms and sighed. 'I wasn't going to say that. . . but since you bought it up —Yes; doing what you were known best for by most of the girls; going around sweet talking, acting too homely. You're not doing any of that with me until we graduate.'

Paulo scratched his chin, 'Well, I can't make any promises the next time we're studying I won't just throw down the book and I won't try to k—' He watched Sue roll her eyes as he flashed his trademark grin mid-sentence and was about to make her exit. Paulo chuckled as he caught up to her and grabbed her hand. 'I'm kidding! Stop!'

Sue turned around. There was some resemblance of sadness in her voice as her head hung to the side; 'You know what I meant. You can't kid around about this stuff, we just talked about this just before; you can't at school or anywhere in public. We can talk about things that aren't school or study at lunch. We can talk over the phone about the day. We can trade books. We can go out on weekends to functions on the odd occasion. But absolutely no _DPA_.'

Paulo was confused. 'What the hell is DPA?!'

She blinked at him. ' ** _D_** _isplays_ of _ **P**_ _ublic_ _ **A**_ _ffection_. It's what I was just talking about!'

Good lord, he couldn't believe that had a particular word associated to it! 'I get it, I get it already. No affection, I can do that.' It was shaping up to be a whole different relationship he had ever been in already. 'How do I tell you _I love you_ every time I meet you then?' He asked, at the same time wondering if such a relationship could even be possible.

'You can do it by getting good grades.' Sue said as if that were so simple.

He rolled his eyes, 'That sounds boring.'

'I suppose you could also beg. You're good for that.' Sue shot, winking.

'Yeah look what it's gotten me into!' Paulo shot back. 'But really, thank you. . . for turning around back then.'

Sue smiled as she shrugged, 'Suppose I'm just a sucker for trying to make a difference where I can.' She said.

'You were good for that.'

'Not really.'

'Hey, don't be like that. That's more than enough to be happy for.' He coughed into a fist, 'You know, if I could, back—.' He said, thinking of that one time in sophomore.

'Don't.' Sue interrupted. 'That was then, this is now; you had your reasons.'

'Still, I feel like I should've—' He tried saying again before Sue cut in yet again.

'Paulo, seriously. Stop. You can't keep apologising for everything that happened in the past. I know I can't.'

'Yeah, I know. I didn't mean. . .' He sighed. 'I gotta admit, I feel like us being together is worth announcing to the world, but it's like you said, it's not very fun if everyone already thinks as much.' He said chuckling, 'Makes you almost sad? Huh?'

It was Sue's turn to sigh, she'd gotten to a point in her life she was happy for, and nobody was going to be surprised in the end. 'I guess I'd have liked to let someone know. Maybe we could closer towards the end of the year. If we're still. . . you know.'

He shook his head. 'Hey, look! I—I'm really going to try, okay? I'm just. . .you know, be a bit patient with me. I know I can be a bit of a handful at times especially when I don't mean to. But, I want to make this last.'

Sue blushed, 'I—I'm going to as well!' Sue said, she shook her head. 'Just be a little patient with me also.'

'No regrets though, right?' Paulo thought for one final time. 'As I said before; I am a lot of work. You can always back out!'

She was going to hit him. She balled her fists up, but they instead went to her hips. 'That's enough! I'm already committed to this! Don't try to make me change my mind! Not to mention, I made a promise to your dad that you'd graduate.' She said blushing.

He was elated inside, 'Well then!' Paulo said smiling. 'Looks like we're in it for the long-run, I look forward to whatever more plans you make in the future!' He said, extending a hand to seal the deal.

Sue rolled her eyes at it, 'Clearly, letting things go with the flow seems to suit us better.' She remarked. She extended her hand as well.

With one solid hand shake, _The Plan_ was solid once again.

Paulo didn't let go of her hand. 'If I wasn't clear back at home, I really do appreciate you coming around to find me before the snowstorm hit. I'm just feel sad about everything bad that happened.'

'I'm not.' Sue said.

'Huh?'

Sue looked down to her arm and gave it a rub with her other hand, 'It's a small price to pay for. . .well everything that happened last night. I know none of it was ideal; the fighting, being behind your back or even on your case. I just want to see you graduate, with all of us.'

'Why's there an emphasis on me graduating? What's with the _with all of us?_ '

Sue was silent before looking sad, 'Because it sucks we already have two people who aren't going to be around when we graduate. It would suck if there was a third of us, not to mention you'd be the one left behind. I—I'm not going to let that happen!'

Paulo smiled, 'Apparently, I've got the best girlfriend in the world. I'll graduate. I won't let you down either.'

Sue leant in and gave Paulo a small peck against the cheek. 'Thank you for walking me home and, well. . .helping me with, well, things.'

'O—Of course. I'm always happy to help.' Paulo blushed. He rose his hand to say goodbye as Sue walked backwards doing the same in return, before finally turning and continuing the rest of the leg home. Paulo did the same.

Sue stopped after a few meters once she noticed. Something was missing from this scene. Then she realised. She turned back and called out towards Paulo and ran towards him. As soon as she caught up, she took his hands in hers and the rubbed the top them with her thumbs, looking past them to the snow below. Paulo thought to try and ask if something was wrong, before Sue's head came back up and leant in to him. Their lips meet again, much like the night before.

She withdrew after a moment. Paulo felt the need to ask. 'Any better?' he asked.

'A little different.' Sue said, her hand went to her lips and touched them softly.

'Damn, I'll try harder next time.'

'Ha! Me too I suppose!' Sue smiled.

'But I thought we weren't doing any _PDA_.' Paulo thought to point out.

Sue looked past his shoulder. 'I don't see anyone around. I guess it isn't public!' She smiled.

'You only just looked around now?! What would you do if someone from school was here?'

'Well, nobody saw!'

'That's besides the point! Why is it okay if only you can choose?'

'Well, I never said I wasn't open to _some_ compromises. Goodbye kisses are allowed, in moderation, of course!' Sue said. 'So long as it's not in public and we're not in school.'

Paulo rolled his eyes, smiled and shook his head. 'Fine, I'll keep that all in mind.'

'I'll see you tomorrow!' She said, smiling as she walked backwards towards her house.

Paulo sighed with a smile on his face as well, he waved back before turning around to home himself.

* * *

He returned home half an hour later. He opened the door to find his father in the kitchen, helping himself to some of the remaining pancake mix in the frypan on the stove.

'I'm home, dad.' Paulo announced.

'Welcome home.' His father replied. ''Ready to talk?'

'Yeah.' Paulo said. He felt confident that whatever his father wanted to talk about, he was going to be okay. He'd be honest with his father and take whatever came back. If it demanded the truth, Paulo would do his best, even if it hurt him so inside.

The fewest of heroes in his life, despite everything, his father was one of them.

* * *

Sue turned around, once she saw Paulo take the corner street; no longer in her sight, she skipped the remaining distance to her home, or tried to at least, the snow was proving to be too deep. Instead it looked awkward. She gave it up. She'd been suppressing the urge for as long as she could regardless though. She couldn't describe her feelings into words, but she was so unbelievably happy.

She had to admit she was scared for a minute when it was just her and Paulo's father. She didn't know what to expect, she didn't know anything about him. At worst she had feared that he wouldn't be as kind about her being around Paulo, but he was nice. Father like son. Everything seemed to work out in the end. She handled it well, and all it seemed to require was her being true to her feelings. That's all that was ever needed from the start.

Sue reached the front door, but her hand didn't stop at the door handle, it rose up again and softly touched her lips again. Her thoughts went to that moment again. She felt her cheeks start to redden along with a feeling that felt wonderous inside her.

 _Shit_ , she thought aloud to herself. She'd realised Paulo was right; _she could get addicted to this_.

The hand reached to the door handle this time. She didn't manage more than a few steps through the front part of the house before she was immediately beset upon by her parents who had been waiting nervously for her return. Her phone was dead of course, so nothing had been going through. Everything around her seemed to feel like it had been happening in slow motion at that point. She wondered if that was the effect of her feelings as she watched her mother and father's arms wrapped themselves around her.

She quickly thought about Paulo. They didn't fight that morning. Was it the first time? Was all that it ever required was for them to talk it out and have some patience with one another?

She smiled to herself, today was gonna be a long day.


	20. Comical Misunderstanding (Part 1)

As Monday rolled in the very same week Paulo had already decided on breaking his promise to Sue; he was going to drop the news on David. He was already aware it wasn't the nicest thing to do since only promised her yesterday he wouldn't try to be distracted by being in a new relationship. There wasn't a doubt in his mind he was going to hear about it from her, and not too long soon after either, he suspected. But come on; the only person who'd stuck by him for years next to her was more than deserving to know that he was seeing someone again. Paulo meant well doing this. It was being wrapped in good intentions; news travelled fast in Roseville High, and they were all at the same table during lunch anyway. They were all bound to figure it out at some stage, why should they keep it a secret? If he at least spoke to him about it now rather than allowing David to figuring it out later, the freak-out wouldn't be as bad.

That was the initial worry; the freak-out. Paulo never meant any offense or ill-will towards David at the best of times, but sometimes David was just a tad unpredictable when he chose to be surprised. God help them — if David said something out loud or completely misunderstand in the cafeteria — that would just complicate things. It only made sense for Paulo to let him know early and be done with it for good. The sooner, the better - then they can all concentrate on their studies and graduate the year.

It was going to be a cinch, and if he played his cards well, hopefully Sue would see the light in his actions.

He found David on the way to school, and they talked.

He should have seen this coming. He should've. Just like how the week had started with Sue at his place, really making him open his eyes; nothing was ever as simple as it first looked.

Paulo kept a brisk walking pace alongside David as they charged their way to school. He racked at his brains. He grew flustered. He couldn't understand. He never counted on this. . .Okay, he did, he told himself — there was just a slight possibility in his mind. . . _Good probability_ in his mind that maybe, _just maybe_ , there was a _teensy_ little bit of a chance David wouldn't believe him.

Grief _!_ _David wouldn't believe him_! At all! No matter how many times he explained! Every time he did, David just shook his head and laughed. As if. . .As if—

This wasn't anything like what he'd predicted. It was all turning out to be like a worst-case scenario — a nightmare. He couldn't understand why David was acting the way he was today. Was it the idea? Did it really seem so far-fetched? Could David not just _somehow_ accept it for what it was? Questions continued to plague Paulo as they entered the school grounds. It couldn't stay like this for long. The whole encounter had begun reaching a critical point where Paulo began to consider himself desperate enough to drag David off from the front doors of the school towards the back to at least talk this over once more before going inside, or worse; threaten to beat the living daylights out of him if he dared keep this attitude up. Something he'd never do in regular circumstances, but David was being loud, and David was going to do something Paulo felt both of them were going to regret if he didn't do something about it first. Paulo did his best to try and explain the story to him for the third time — from the top.

And like before, just like how the last two times went, David shifted it in a way that the conversation was no longer in Paulo's hands. It shifted into some strange nonsensical story that Paulo could only balk and refuse at — Crazier than the first two attempts; a story where the differences between the two could be only resolved in one certain fashion. It wasn't a nice one; it was vulgar — rude. Also, _wrong_ in many ways, never mind how wrong it was that David was saying this about a friend — his own friend too. His train of thought was somewhere Paulo couldn't begin to easily comprehend. There'd be nothing good coming from David being this way. He couldn't go into the school being like this. Paulo decided; that critical point he thought about was now.

Paulo tried to reach over for David's arm, but fumbled as David shot ahead suddenly. Paulo didn't see that coming and David didn't see him try. David bolted on, laughing as he reached for the front entrance, shouting out behind him to Paulo; 'And they have a thing they call that.' He yelled back, continuing his version of Paulo's story, 'It's called. . .' He skidded through the main entrance and took a large gulp of air. Paulo felt his escaping him at that same moment, his heart sunk further as David shouted through the entrance-way:

'" _Hate-fucking_ "!'

The words bounced off the hallway walls and echoed down the main corridor. Paulo was sure if the walls could talk, he was sure it wasn't the first time they had heard something so vulgar. But the walls weren't the only audience here today, and without a moment's delay, everyone inside turned around for just that moment to see where the words had come from; all to David with his arms stretched above his head. He gleefully looked back to a rather disgusted Paulo by the entrance, who in turn let a hand reach up for his face and sighed into it. He'd been a fraction too slow. Had he been just a few seconds faster he could have hidden himself from view behind one of the doors to escape being an accessory to this mistake of a morning, but everyone did. From in-between his fingers he watched various shared emotions from people he knew and people he didn't; some giggling from the outburst, other's embarrassed, some rolling their eyes or whispering scandalous gossip to their friends. Paulo didn't imagine the day starting out like this. All he wanted to do was tell his friend he was dating again. He really didn't want to pick up this much attention looking the way he did today.

Paulo changed his priorities; he was going to kill David. He walked up to David, rose to his full height and grabbed onto him before carefully spitting out words beneath his rage, 'What. . .the fuck. . . is wrong with you?! You can't go screaming that shit out aloud!' Paulo shouted.

'What? It's what they call it.' David smiled. 'Besides, you're making a scene.' He said. A group of girls in the year beneath them walked past that moment, each giggling as they looked on.

Embarrassed, Paulo pushed back off him. 'Don't make it to something it's not! And don't go swearing down the hallways; I don't want to get in trouble!' He huffed. He pushed past David and headed towards the direction of his locker. The panic subsided once he noticed the lack of any teachers to investigate the noise. Some relief washed over him; they could've been in deep trouble had there been any, the sort he didn't need. His locker was next to David's, he would square with him again from there.

'Aww, someone's sure touchy today.' He heard David comment as he trailed behind him.

Paulo felt something inside of him ignite at the words, but he didn't bother turning around, choosing instead to let it slide and focusing instead on his growing headache, he let a hand reach up to it and muttered a swear to himself. Nothing had been going right that morning. Hell, make it the week so far. He felt he needed a vacation from David. Even better, maybe another vacation from _all_ his friends. His health had been in jeopardy over the last few days; mentally; between where Sue kept her feelings bottled up inside until the last second (and he supposed himself to, to an extent), and physically; when she was thrown into him, earning him a few bruises in various places, and it showed. David himself was the cause of this headache this morning. A friend since elementary school, his longest friendship yet. Also, he was an enigma. Paulo had been sure he'd have figured out David's eccentricity since then, and yet; he still hadn't. Even today, David was constantly trying to find new ways to surprise him, and in a way much like now; also finding ways to completely disappoint him at the same time: Paulo didn't know which part infuriated him more; his friend's complete insistence that he was pulling his leg, or that David had no understanding of the concept of being discrete; howling in laughter at the story Paulo told him. Really, Paulo had started to harshly consider that calling him a friend was pushing it. His attitude was not helping at all.

Paulo sighed to himself; he realised he couldn't bring himself to think like that as much as he'd try. This would inevitably become one of the many items in the list of compromises he'd make, and that would be okay; the truth was he'd calmed down in the short time from the entrance to his locker. He wasn't as annoyed as he was with David yelling out his version of the story as they walked like moments ago, particularly when he considered that people had come to expect this from David by now. It was nothing new for David to be loud. And to Paulo's own benefit; David wasn't elaborating too heavily on the context during his shouting — they could have been discussing just about anything. But Paulo still struggled to understand why he continued to act so stubborn with the news. There might've been a chance he wouldn't listen, but did he have to be so crass about it? Did he have to act like some sort of child? He supposed he should have counted for this, it never felt like David ever mentally-aged past middle-school at the best of times — that made him easier to get along with, so maybe that's all it really was. Only then could you find the boldness to yell a swear through the main hallway as an unruly senior, something Paulo supposed he had the balls to do himself.

David was a real enigma of a friend, having carried his innocence all the way through from middle-school. Though, with the 'hate-fucking' comment, you had to wonder to what extent that was, and when did it stop? He couldn't help but wonder whether David would continue to keep growing up like that. David hadn't been in a relationship either. Boy, whoever that lucky (or poor) person was, was going to be in for such a surprise.

Despite all his quirks, David was good friend where it mattered. Their friendship was a solid one that withstood the test of time. But still. . .

Paulo opened the locker and quickly grabbed the books he'd need for today. He spoke again once he felt David's presence beside him; 'I'm serious, cut all that _sex_ shit out. It's fucking wrong to begin with. All she did was spend the night over, and all we did was talk. We didn't do anything else.' He swung the locker door closed. 'We're giving dating a try and seeing how things go from there. Seriously, dude — I really thought you'd have wanted to know. What's so hard to believe?' He asked.

David shrugged, 'Whatever you say, Partner.' he said while working in the combination of his own lock, 'It's not like I'm not interested. But you know, I'm not buying that for one simple reason.' A final twist and the lock undid itself. He turned to Paulo. 'Have you ever seen the way she glares at you from the other side of the table at lunch? She'd been doing it for years. And even then, you've always bashed your heads together — you and Sue would never work out! She's always been into Mike and now she's into. . .Cletus? You probably knocked yourself out that night and had a dream; it'd match that bruise to go along with it.' He said, extending a finger and accidentally pressing it against the massive bruise on the side Paulo's face. It moved away just as fast as Paulo's hands went to the place he poked. 'Oops! Sorry! 'Didn't mean to. But. . .what I'm saying is I've seen you two together. You both barely tolerate each other — that ship is not sailing. I'd frankly abandon all hope! Just aim a canon at that boat and be done with it.' With his piece finished, he turned back towards his locker and swung it open, quickly extending a hand to catch the bulk of his personal effects before they threatened to fall out. The same hand was all that was needed to push them back inside.

'You mean 'lock horns'.' Paulo corrected. 'And what the hell do you even mean by that? You've said something similar before, what's with these 'ship' things?'

'Wasn't it obvious? _Relationships,_ duh! It's all just like my favourite comics!' David said, gleefully. He searched for the books he'd need for today. He found them. 'I like to pair my favourite super heroes together and hope they sail off into the sunset together! I know a few communities online who are into it for everything; TV shows, games, comics. It's universally understood around the world online and off the relationships with abrasive partners almost never work out. I mean, at first, they're great but unless they have a great sex-life. . .well, you know what tends to happen.'

Paulo's eyebrows elevated.

'It's a thing. Look it up!' David said, shrugging.

'Like hell I will. Besides; that's not how real-life works. That's just. . . _fiction_.'

'Sure it does. Remember Mike and Lucy'?'

Paulo's jaw dropped. 'You're kidding. . .'

'Not at all!'

'No, I'm actually weirded out you think that's okay to compare?'

'What's wrong with that? They're not here.'

'It doesn't matter, it's the fact we knew them!'

'I'm just saying those two must have been doing _something_ on the side.'

'No dude, _no_! That's taking it too far. You can't compare any of that shit to what you're talking about. That's—That's just being _creepy_.' He sighed at the frown David returned. This really was taking a turn for the worst. This whole exercise was proving utterly futile; David was just not going to believe him. He preferred to stay in his other little world. Paulo started to consider that maybe it was for the better that he was. 'Tell you what instead; maybe you were right about earlier.' Paulo said cupping a hand to his chin. 'Maybe I did just bump my head and think it all up. Ahh. . .Forget I said anything about it earlier — what a crazy, crazy dream, right?'

David nodded. 'That's the way! And I'd say from the sounds of it you need something different from the usual, yourself.' He closed the door of the locker and span around to face him. 'Well, you'd be in luck; I have good news. I actually have two people this time, the latter being something special if the first doesn't work out.'

Paulo groaned to himself once he realised where this was all going and fell back against his locker. His hand went to his face again, and to the headache; it was growing worse. Truth be told, he had felt a slight chance this was going to be bought up again as well, even despite his hopefulness that David had found a new hobby. He chose to passively listen while David talked about who he had spoken to over the week. Paulo's complete attention was elsewhere; to a part of him being frank with himself; it wasn't the freak-out he was concerned about.

It was that David was _still_ searching for a new partner for him.

Much like how David had tried months ago when they spoke in the library, David had made the sole decision that the only way for him to bring Paulo's spirits up again was to find someone new for him to date. Nothing bought you to your toes like a drama filled relationship. It worked in the past, and it was going to happen despite Paulo's insistence he didn't need to complicate his life with another relationship at the time. That was what true friendship was all about, after all.

Unfortunately for David, being a senior and enrolled in several honour studies himself meant he couldn't dedicate as much time as he wanted to his project, and even after school, his mommy made him study immediately upon getting home until dinner, meaning the only time he could find time was in the mornings, or in-between his classes. A slow process. But he had ploughed on, and with some luck he had found some people. But to his own dismay, Paulo would be unable to meet them; he was much too busy himself pulling his grade out of the pit he dug for it. David was sad about going through so many people and ruining so many potential friendships, but he knew deep down his best bud was only really being a little more picker this time. He'd been with a few women already — it was only natural. He'd win Paulo over eventually!

These good intentions could not be felt by Paulo, who instead felt this thing teetered on the border of being an obsessive. He'd asked David to stop long ago. There wasn't a need; he wasn't looking for another relationship, at least – until Sue showed up. But David wasn't listening to him then, or even now. How many times did he need to repeat himself? What would it take for him to get the picture?

There had been some urgency in getting David to stop. It became especially problematic a couple of weeks back when David briefly ventured into searching for candidates from the freshman year. Paulo put a stop to that as soon as he heard wind of it, it was too bad (and too desperate) of a look for his image. The urgency came when Sue had found out this had been going on, and threatened to drop tutoring him if he didn't try to intervene. Having started dating her, Paulo felt renewed with the task of having David it all completely, lest he complicate everything further.

Paulo shook his head. 'This really is far enough — Quit it, I'm serious; give it a rest already. I wasn't interested before — I'm not interested now. Just cut it out.'

'At least meet this girl first before deciding that! She's a real fine bitch! I promise! She was a little unwelcoming at first, and I couldn't stick around for too long to learn much about her. . . but she was pretty enthusiastic about getting a boyfriend! C'mon! At least give it a try.' David begged.

Paulo rolled his eyes at the crass description. He had himself to blame for this, it didn't help trying to be the _cool-guy_ years ago to make up for shortcomings, David had continued running with that alone. 'Great, she sounds like a solid match.' He wondered if David would've picked up on the sarcasm.

'I know right?!'

Paulo sighed to himself, 'Could you please just listen to me? I said, _'no more'_ and I mean it! Where did you tell her to meet me? I suggest you go there instead and explain to her it was a mistake.'

'I told her to meet us here, right about time for her to show up too.'

Paulo's eyes widened, 'You WHAT? Why here?!'

'Because I knew you were going to be _here_. Seriously, just stick around and at least meet her. Not gonna let my hard effort go to waste with you being too busy like last time!'

'I _am_ busy, I can't afford to get into a complicated relationship! I've told you this — listen to me! I need to go! When she gets here, you tell her it was a misunderstanding!' He turned away.

'Where are you going?'

'The bathroom!' Paulo said, only to find himself unable to. Something had kept him planted to the floor. He found a hand firmly on his shoulder; David's, an empty bottle found itself over his other.

'Just use this — if you're quick enough I can make sure nobody notices.'

Paulo stared back in disbelief before taking the bottle and tossing it into the nearest rubbish bin.

David shrugged. 'Well, I tried. You're still not going anywhere, so if you wet yourself in anticipation, you can't say I didn't warm you!' He winked, and then with an unreasonable enthusiasm; 'David's cupid service is gonna rock, baby!'

Paulo span and bat his hand off of him, 'David, for fucks sakes! I've had enough! I _am_ already dating someone — even if you can't bring yourself to come to terms with it. It's the truth! You need to cut this the fuck—' He stopped, interrupted by an 'ahem' that originated from behind David. He couldn't see who it was, David was much too tall himself to see anything past. David heard it too, his eyes lit up. Paulo felt his heartbeat as David twisted around to greet it. It lessened once David's shoulders fell, and David's enthusiasm fell with it.

'Oh, it's just you.'

Sue took that the wrong way immediately. 'Well, good morning to you too!' She shot back.

Paulo had to think for a moment. He scoffed to himself, could he have been—. _He'd been had!_ He couldn't believe it. He bellowed out in laughter, 'You had me going for a second there, man! You've been talking about Sue all this time? I nearly almost believed—'

David turned briefly to Paulo, his expression serious; 'What? No! It's not Sue, she isn't—' He shut up. He had an idea. 'I mean, she's practice!' He returned to Sue. 'Can you help us practice?!'

Sue squinted at him, her intuition telling her she couldn't treat that request with anything other than suspicion, 'With what?'

'We're picking up women.' David explained, he signalled behind his shoulder to Paulo. 'I found Paulo a date, and he's rusty.'

Paulo felt himself going red in the face, 'I'm not—'

'I'm not helping you with that!' Sue said, cutting in above Paulo turning a shade of pink herself. She peered out from David's side to him, 'I thought you put an end to this?!'

Paulo held his arms out to his sides, 'I thought so too! I've only heard of this just now!'

David resorted to pleading, 'Come on! Do it for me! You don't have to do anything! Just let Paulo say some wordy things to you.'

Sue was beginning to lose her temper, 'I'm not going to be used like some object to demonstrate your nonsensical idiot-activities, David!'

' _I'm_ not going to be treating you like an object, I already told you Paulo will be doing that!'

'How is _that_ any better?!'

'At least let him give it a go! It's for the greater good, Sue! I promise! There is a higher purpose for this!'

'I said No!'

'C'mon, Sue, just for a minute! A higher purpose! I guarantee you! All he's going to do is wrap his arms around you and tell you how good you look! You don't have to like Paulo, you just need to resist the urge to punch his lights out while he does it!'

'I—I wouldn't do that to him anyway! I'm not that sort of person anyway; I hate violence!' Sue said. 'Besides, it's not like I wouldn't. . .wouldn't—. . .Wait, no! No! You're not involving me in this!' A part of her just giving it the tiniest part of contemplation, but very short-lived.

'Come on! Think it over again, it's for a higher purpose, Sue. I promise! You might even end up liking it! I mean, it's not like anyone's ever done it to you before! Just think about it.' David begged again.

'What's _THAT_ supposed to mean?!' Sue raged back.

Nothing was ever going to top this moment, Paulo told himself — absolutely nothing. Between David digging his own grave deeper and Sue getting very, very close to make a very possible life defining choice against her word just moments ago — This right here, was some _fucking_ amazing sight to behold. In any other situation he would've likely stepped in to cool them both. He was Sue's boyfriend after all. But for the moment — he wasn't. He chose to continue being discrete about it. He was okay watching this. He wanted to stay here for as long as it took to see which played out first, but sighed to himself upon a stark realisation at that point in time; the situation was too ripe not to take advantage of; as much as he didn't want to miss this, if there was ever going to be a chance he could settle with David without dealing with this mystery would-be girlfriend, he'd need to abscond here and now. It was a real shame; he'd know there wouldn't be anything as magnificent like this again. But making it through the day without Sue's wrath really was seeming more important at that moment of time. And with that, he turned around and tried to tip-toe away. . .

Only that he would've gotten away with it too, hadn't Sue — none-the-wiser to the earlier events — peered from behind David at that time again and called his name. That bought David's attention to his friend's daring escape. He ran after him and managed to grab onto Paulo's arm. He turned back towards Sue. He had another brilliant idea, whether you could call it that, and he threw Paulo towards her.

'Catch!' David shouted.

 _Catch_ , she didn't. Paulo only just managed the stopping power himself needed to keep him from bowling Sue over. 'A—Are you okay?' Paulo said worryingly, barely just having managed to wrap his arms around Sue to keep her from falling onto her back.

'Owie, that—that really hurt!' Sue said, reeling from the collision.

Paulo frowned at David in further disbelief; this was starting to get way out of control. He couldn't help but wonder what kind of games were running through his friend's head. First, not believing he was dating again, then asking Sue to be his training dummy, then throwing him into her, then expecting he chat up the very same girl he— . . .

Paulo turned back to Sue whom he still cradled in his arms. He had an idea and gave it some real thought. He could use this situation; he could turn that into such a way that it dealt with both problems in one fell swoop. It _could_ work, so long as Sue played along too. She'd be furious, but never-mind that small detail; she was pissed at him already. He was sure David would surely get the message this time.

All right, he'd do it; he reached down for that boyish charm he flaunted some months and years ago and held her closer to him. 'Y—you know, I know we usually get off on the wrong foot on most days. But, I just wanted to let you know that I'm always around to catch you whenever you need the support.' He said, winking down to Sue.

Sue blinked in surprise, 'O—Oh?' She said, feeling parts of her face become warm. 'P—Paulo what are you doing?!' She whispered.

Paulo whispered back through his teeth, 'Help me, I can't get him to give this a rest! I can't do this alone!'

'Help you? B—But we weren't supposed to-'

'Please. . .please help me. You're in the drama club, right? Just. . .just play along, say something, or _do_ something that might make him get the picture.' He begged.

Sue scowled towards Paulo, was he really asking her to play along with this? Did he not listen to her the day before? She sighed in protest. She looked on the bright side; if it meant David would cease these games, so be it. She let a hand move to his shoulder. 'W—Well to tell you the truth, I—I may have been looking for someone with your. . .talents.' She said.

Not the words he was expecting, Paulo couldn't help the bemused smile streak across his face, he tried not to laugh. 'Come on Sue, couldn't you be a little more convincing?' He whispered back.

Something inside her became enraged by it. 'C—Convincing?!' She hissed. It was _supposed_ to be convincing! A fairly bold thing to have come from Paulo. After all, she was the one in the drama club, not _him_! She seethed; she could do _convincing_ — All she had to do was tell Paulo what he meant to her, right? She could do that. _Hell_ , she could be _really_ convincing with that! She was going to reciprocate him in a way neither Paulo, nor David would ever come to doubt how convincing she could be ever again! She went to speak again, but nothing left her.

Her attention drew away from Paulo and out to her side. She'd become distracted by the group of students who'd stop to watch. She felt their stares burning into her. Her throat started to feel dry and her legs started to lose their strength; she'd have fallen if Paulo hadn't been holding her up. She knew what this was, and she didn't want it to be _that_.

It was not hard to recognise _stage-fright_ , particularly when you had an interest in theatre and had been a part of two productions in the school; some of the auditions just. . . broke down on stage when it came their turn to act. Never had she imagined how debilitating it was herself. All those people watching on. Strangers. Watching them. Judging — She hated it, she really hated it. Her attention drew back to Paulo; desperate for some kind of reply that would be enough to convince David that. . .maybe there was something romantic going on between the two. It sounded so simple a task.

She shook her head to herself! It couldn't be stage fright, she told herself reassuringly. It couldn't have been! The idea was almost laughable; it had to be something else! _She_ was part of the drama club, _she_ was the director of the play previous. Was she any different when it came to the actors? Surely it had to do with the situation itself; it was too. . . _out of the blue_! That's all it was! She needed to warm up first!

Sue went to say something again, and much like before; nothing. She bit her lip. A feeling inside of her became at odds with the bravado that hadn't failed her in similar situations before. A bit of a realisation that. . .maybe, she wasn't just a good actor as she believed herself to have been.

She was the shy girl, after all.

Paulo had grown worried, more-so when a tear started to form in Sue's eyes. 'S—Sue, did I hurt you? Did you need me to take you to the nurse?' He asked.

Sue shook her head, 'N—No, it's okay! I—I, j—just—' She wanted to bury her hands into her face; she couldn't take this.

'It's okay, look. Just leave it to me.' Paulo whispered.

She felt conflicted with the words; a part of her didn't want to. She hated the very idea; she was involved in this as well. It didn't make sense to leave it all to Paulo, but. . . what could she do? She struggled against herself to even do anything feeling the way she did. Though, when she looked up back at Paulo, she started to feel a little disappointed in herself; she didn't want to let him down. If it were just the two of them, she was sure she'd. . .

Her hand started moving on its own to his face and rested against his cheek. 'W—Well, I—I mean. . .' She said. She gave a heavy sigh to herself. 'Oh, what's the use? I—It's only natural since we're supporting each other. Right, _love_?' Sue smiled to him.

Paulo was making his damned near best to make sure he didn't accidentally drop her despite the strength leaving his arms. He'd forgotten completely how susceptible he was to this himself; he'd done this to so many of the girls in the past but only realised now it was his own kryptonite. He couldn't describe the feeling, but it was no different to how it was back the day before. He glanced back to David to see if it left its mark. If that one sentence still wasn't enough to get the hint across to him, then nothing would. Alas, he still couldn't tell; David was staring out into the space between them. It was the random whistling that shot down the hallway that bought Paulo back to Sue. He'd noticed that time she had been trying to pull herself up into his chest-tuff to escape her embarrassment. He'd decided that was as far as it could all go. He pulled her up to her feet, and set her behind him. He turned to the crowd and waved to them; 'Show's over, people, thanks for joining us! Be sure to sign up for the drama club, I hear we have an exciting play this time!' He said with a wink. They clapped as Paulo bowed towards them, before dispersing in different directions. Paulo felt a familiar presence hide itself against his back and a hand strongly holding onto his. He wanted to twist around and check in on Sue to make sure she was okay, but his attention moved to someone from the crowd who hadn't quite moved on. Instead they approached. Paulo didn't recognise them. David did. It was only then he snapped-to and went to introduce her.

'You're here!' David exclaimed loudly. 'Practice is now over! Paulo, Cynthia, Cynthia, Paulo. Work your magic, buddy!' he said, slapping Paulo on the shoulder.

Paulo was aghast, 'Seriously? After all that?! Cut the bullshit! How arrogant can you possibly—'

The young girl in front of him interrupted, 'You're Paulo?' she said, looking over him before stepping back, 'I. . .I'm pleased to meet your acquaintance.' She said, and curtsied.

Paulo turned back towards the girl and swallowed. It was her politeness that caught him off-guard, the curtsy was certainly unexpected. 'S—Same here.' Paulo said. He certainly didn't recognise them. He took the moment to quickly look her over much in the same way she had to him. She was cute, much like David described. He would've congratulated David on finding such a lovely girl if there weren't so many things wrong with the picture — one of them quite immediate; she was tiny, smaller than Amaya, smaller than _Lucy._ That was something altogether. He realised there was no way in hell she was in any year closer to his own. He went to ask, but he felt like he knew the answer already; 'S—Sorry, don't mind me asking; but I don't recognise you at all. Did you just change school's recently or did you—.'

'Oh, no, I moved up from middle school earlier in the year; I'm in my first year.' She said softly.

Paulo glared back towards David with a disdain. They were going to have a serious talk after this, and about a lot of things.

Cynthia beamed in his presence; 'I—I have to admit I didn't expect you to be so. . .so tall! I. . .I have to admit I was unsure about meeting a senior but once your friend spoke of you I figured—'

'Cynthia was it? I'm sorry, but this isn't what it appears to be.' Paulo cut in.

By then the young girl had noticed the one hiding behind Paulo. 'W—was I interrupting something?' She asked, pointing to the side Sue was on.

He nodded, 'See, the truth is—'

He felt the presence from his back lift off him. Sue came out to the side and smiled to the girl. 'W—We're actually a couple ourselves. Sorry, it. . .it seems there's been a misunderstanding.' She said.

David's jaw dropped. He refused to believe it. 'Sue! What are you—'

'David.' Sue said.

'What?'

'Shut. Up.' She turned back to the girl. 'I'm sorry, David gets some crazy wild ideas to bring up my boyfriend's mood; this was another one of those. Sorry; he's taken.' Sue said waving her hand. 'David doesn't know Paulo and I have been a couple for a number of weeks now, we didn't want to make a big deal out of this and kind-of kept it a secret between us. But our friend here — well, he's not the brightest of us. I hope you can forgive him.' She turned to David again, 'What are you waiting for? Aren't you going to apologise for playing with this young girl's heart?'

'I—I'm sorry.' David said obediently.

The little girl looked hurt for a short moment before bouncing back. She nodded, and smiled towards Sue and Paulo, 'I understand! I'm sorry for the misunderstanding.' She said to them.

'Not at all!' Sue replied.

Cynthia was about to turn and leave, but not before looking towards David's direction. The smile disappeared, a frown and a scowl replaced it. She pointed to him accusingly before balling that hand into a fist, and punching her other hand — concise, a threat, or a sign of something that awaited him that afternoon. She waved back to Sue and Paulo before she darting in the direction she needed to go. The three watched her leave.

Paulo felt the relief wash over him as he watched the girl disappear into the crowd of students. He had to admit for just a small moment he was taken in by her charm. Had he been any younger he'd likely have. . . _Ah_ , well, let's just say he was happy it never was. He felt a little sorry for David and for what could have been awaiting him that afternoon. He saw Sue turn to him out of the corner of his eye. _And speaking of more bullets_ , he said to himself turning towards her.

'So, where were we?' She asked.

He shrugged. 'Dunno, I said something about giving support, but I ended up getting it in droves instead.' He said, smiling to her. 'Thank, _love_.'

'Anytime. . .' Sue said, then blushing to herself; ' _Hun_.'

David wasn't paying attention to the two, instead choosing to sulk as he watched the young girl take the corner of the hallway. 'You know, even though I didn't get to know her first, I really tried that time. Gotta admit though, I didn't really expect Sue to use our practice to promote the drama club.'

Paulo's jaw descended. It was almost unreal that David was in classes ahead of him.

Sue beat him to it. 'What are you talking about?' She asked, 'I didn't tell him to say anything about the drama club needing more members.'

'Huh?' David said confused.

Paulo shook his head, 'Look, don't bother Sue, I'd only spent the whole morning trying to convince him and he won't listen to a single word I say. He really is far-gone.'

'It's almost insulting knowing he's in grades ahead of ours!' Sue noted.

Paulo laughed. 'I just thought the same thing! Clearly I'm not pushing myself as far as I need to! It's almost eye opening!'

David appeared hurt. 'You guys are being mean! And. . .Y—You mean that wasn't all just a play?'

'Oh my god, you're still—' He couldn't find it in him to be furious at him, the whole situation had become pitiful by this point. 'That whole thing wasn't just for show, I only said that at the end so everyone would clear out. Everything else was real!'

'Speaking of which!' Sue said, and at that precise moment thrust a fist into David's stomach. It was hard enough for Paulo to hear the wind escape from David's lungs as he collapsed onto the tiled floor. She pointed a finger at him, 'That was for earlier; you had absolutely no right to put me in that situation! If you _ever_ involve me in these stupid ideas of yours again, we're going to be one seat short at the table!' She turned back towards Paulo, he was bemused by what just happened, until he saw her glaring at him. He felt he knew what to expect. 'You're in deep trouble too!' She said angrily.

'I know, I'm sorry. Are you okay?' Paulo asked, carrying some remorse and concern in the words.

She was still deliberating if she still had it in her to punch him like David. She couldn't do it. 'N—No, I thought I was going to _die_ back there! I thought we had an agreement about not doing these things!'

'I know, I know! I agreed to it myself. I'm sorry! I just wanted to find a way so this _idiot_ would get the picture and I thought that would be enough.' He explained, 'But I have to admit, I did not expect that admission at all.'

Sue appeared confused, 'What do you mean? If it wasn't the admission you meant by convincing you, what were you expecting?'

'I. . .I dunno, I was actually banking on you doing something unexpected like slamming my head into the locker.'

Sue blinked, she shook her head. 'What? No! I wouldn't do such a thing!'

'But you hit me!' David groaned.

Sue rolled her eyes, 'You deserved that! You forced me into one of your stupid games and you were being a pig-head!' She turned back to Paulo and shook her head. 'I wouldn't have. Why would you think that that's what I would've done?'

He wasn't too sure himself. He scratched his head deep in thought; 'I—I don't actually know why. Sorry, I just. . .maybe I figured that's what one of his comic book characters would've done so hopefully that would've pushed the message across.'

'I have _absolutely no idea_ what that even means or how that comes into this, but, ignoring that for the moment. . .' Sue said before moving closer to Paulo and resting her hand on his cheek much like earlier. She studied his face. 'I'd only just noticed seeing all the bruises on your face from before, y—you're okay right? Are these the ones I gave you? They don't hurt, right? Is it painful? Should you even be at school today? O—Oh! Everything went okay yesterday after you took me home, right?'

'It's fine! We had a talk, that's all it was. As for everything else, I'll get by, right?'

Sue shook her head. 'You should look after yourself.'

'I'm okay, Sue, honest.' He crossed his heart.

'Alright.'

'Anyway, never-mind me, what about you from yesterday, how's your—.' He stopped. He was surprised he didn't notice it earlier. He felt worse for not noticing at all! He pointed a finger towards her arm. 'That; please don't tell me that's broken.'

Sue held up her left arm and showed off the cast covering most of her shoulder and elbow. 'Yep, it's busted. I went to the hospital after you took me home yesterday. Turns out there was a fracture in two places. So, they put it all in a cast.' She beamed.

Paulo couldn't believe he didn't notice it earlier, particularly when Sue was pressing into him. That was strange. But more stranger was with what he was seeing; Sue's behaviour was different for someone who had broken their arm. Breaking an arm would kind of suck! Yet, here she was with a smile from corner to corner. Anyone else would've been bummed out by it, but Sue refused to let it get her down, instead she radiated with positive energy. It was when he shifted his head and saw people looking in her direction that things had begun to click. He guessed it had to do something with the attention. 'I—I can't believe I didn't notice that earlier! I'm so sorry! S—Should you even be in today yourself?' Paulo said, feeling worried.

Sue shook her head. 'No reason to stay home. These things happen after all. The doctor said—'.

While Sue and Paulo chatted about the day before, David had stood back up and found himself mystified at what he was seeing. He couldn't believe it; the two of his best friends who he'd known had fought for such a long time. . .getting along? Did he miss something?

'—By the way, my arm's not the sorest part; I'm actually still sore all over from that night. You're going to have to be a bit gentler with me for the next couple of days.' Sue finished. She noticed David had finally stood up. Like Paulo, before, he pointed towards her cast, his mouth agape. 'What are you pointing at? My arm? I've already explained; I broke it, okay? Seriously, what's gotten into you now?'

A hand came to Paulo's head, 'Ah shit, that reminds me.' He turned to David, 'Who's that other person you were talking about? Before this shit gets out of control again.'

'There's another person?!' Sue cried. 'David!'

David snapped out of his stupor at that very moment, feeling apprehensive, maybe a little faint, like he'd seen a ghost. He turned to Sue first, 'I—I'm fine. And a—absolutely nothing!' He said with a raised voice.

Paulo and Sue looked at each other in concern.

'O. . .okay but that doesn't answer my question.' Paulo said still looking at Sue. It was when he had no response from David did he look back at him, only David had disappeared. Paulo found him running from them at a great velocity up the hall.

'I'm-late-for-class-so-I'll-see-you-two- _lovebirds-_ later!' David called back.

'Come back, there's still time before the bell!' Paulo shouted to him.

'No, I'm pretty sure I heard it!'

Paulo bought his hands up to his mouth and yelled back at him 'But what was that thing you were talking about earlier?!'

From the other side of the hallway; 'In another lifetime maybe! And the offer was rescinded!'

' _Rescinded_?! What the _fuck_ do you even mean?!' Make sense, you idiot! Get back here!' Paulo yelled, but the words reached nobody; David had already disappeared from view; taking a side-hall towards where his classroom would be. It was possible that Paulo could have given chase, hadn't his own classroom not been on the other side of the building and had Sue not attempted to stop him with an outstretched arm.

'It's fine, let him go. We all have lunch together, so we can deal with him then if it hasn't sunk in until that point.' She said lowering her arm. 'But I really think maybe he's finally come around.'

Paulo nodded.

Sue continued, 'He really didn't want to believe you at all, did he?' She said with some bemused interest in her voice. 'I know I said it before but it's amazing to know he's in classes ahead of us.'

'Well, he seems to pick and choose when he wants to notice things.'

'Ah, is that it? Would've figured after being friends with him for so long he'd be easier to read.' Sue said.

Paulo shook his head; his hand went to the headache forming when he thought about it. 'I just make guesses nowadays. I just don't know about anything to do with him anymore.' He sighed and turned towards her. 'You'd think you know a guy, right?'

* * *

 **Part 2 coming in a fortnight. It's already written up. I just needed a thinly veiled excuse for a buffer. The chapter after brings us back to the original draft. Work-load picking up.**


	21. Comical Misunderstanding (Part 2)

'I really hope that's the last time we have to deal with that racket, we don't need any more girls walking around with their hearts broken.' Sue sighed, she pulled back from her locker with her books in hand and carefully slid them one after the other under her cast before closing the locker. She turned to Paulo, 'We still have an agreement; this isn't supposed to be treated like a huge deal and we're not supposed to be getting distracted by it.' She said turning to him.

'You don't need to repeat yourself — I know. I really thought telling David would've been a favour to us in the long run. I just didn't want him to make a big deal of it, is all.'

'That wasn't precisely what I was referring to.' Sue stated, she had already given his idea some respect it deserved. She had thought about doing the same thing herself for the same reasons that morning, but something else had come up that kept her from doing it. She hung her head low, 'D—Do you think anyone got the wrong idea from. . .from earlier?' She asked. She couldn't help but be a little worried about doing such a performance in the middle of the hallway.

'After painting it like a drama rehearsal I'd be surprised if they did.' He said, trying to be reassuring.

'But' Sue wondered, 'What if, they did?'

He shook his head. 'I don't think they did.'

'But what if….?' She continued to press worryingly.

'It's fine!' He shouted, 'I just wouldn't worry about it! We got an applause, so I suppose they got it.' He smiled to himself; deep down he couldn't help but feel slightly impressed with their handywork. 'Gotta admit with a performance that convincing I doubt anyone would think differently.'

'Y—Yeah. I guess so.' Sue replied. A thumbnail went to her mouth, she chewed on it. She couldn't help but continue to think otherwise.

'What's gotten into you? I mean it. Nobody could doubt that good of a performance! You did well!' Paulo chuckled.

'Alright! You can shut up about it now!' Sue shouted.

He wasn't expecting that sudden outburst. He jumped back in such quickness he'd almost fallen over. 'Is something wrong, Sue?' He asked.

Sue slunk back, feeling a little regretful for the outburst. 'It's nothing.' She muttered.

'You know that clearly means it's something.'

'Just drop it. I didn't mean to snap at you just now. It's just. . . leave it be.'

As Sue turned to leave, Paulo's hand went to her shoulder to stop her. 'Hey, come on, you can talk to me about it.'

She brushed his hand off and turned to him. 'Not right now, besides. It's not something you have to worry about.' Sue turned back in the direction of their class and started to walk towards it.

Paulo followed behind, stroking his chin, he refused to leave it at that, he was going to get to the bottom of it. 'You didn't mean for all that back there to happen, did you?' He asked. Sue stopped. 'C'mon Sue, if you can't talk to someone about your problems, who can you speak to?'

Sue twisted around, her mouth agape. 'That's not fair! How'd you even work that out so fast?'

Paulo shrugged. 'Dunno. Maybe for a change I'm finally getting good at something.' He smiled, before frowning at her, 'Are you going to talk?'

'Look, I'd rather just I really just want to work on this on my own for once, Paulo.'

'Was it what you said before.' He asked, still pressing.

'N—No! Stop bringing that up! I—I couldn't think of anything else to say at the time! It just came out!'

'Was it all the people that hung around?' Paulo asked. Sue kept quiet. He thought he was getting closer to the problem.

'No, it wasn't! Just leave it!'

He just couldn't – he cupped a hand to his chin and thought towards the floor. 'You seized up earlier, that didn't appear normal. Sue you don't have stage—?' He looked up in time to see her on the verge of tears.

'S—Sue are you okay?' He asked.

She wiped at her eyes, 'God damnit, Paulo. I told you to stop prying!'

'I—I'm sorry! I didn't mean to. . .are you crying, what's wrong?'

'I'm not crying!' Sue hissed through her teeth.

'Alright, you're not. I'm here for you though, you know? Can you at least tell me what's wrong? Was it stage-fright?'

Sue shook her head, 'It's fine, I mean it. This isn't anything you can help me with and you don't need to concern yourself with it. I need to sort this out on my own.'

Paulo's shoulders fell, 'Alright. I understand. . . just. . . know I'm here if you need me. If I'd known I'd've—'

'Don't worry about it. Come on, we've got class to go to.' Sue said moving forward again. Paulo lagged behind, still wondering if there was anything he could do. This would come up again sometime, he was sure.

* * *

Sue spoke up a moment later, 'Do you think David will give it a rest now that he knows?' She wondered, going back to earlier.

'I can only hope. Though, he's been acting a little weird today, more so than usual, that's for sure.' He replied, before returning to a thought he had just now.

'I'm really surprised he didn't want to hear about it at all. I know he's thick but surely he's not that thick!' She commented.

Paulo didn't give an immediate reply, that was precisely what he was busy thinking to himself over. He agreed with her; becoming weary of David. He couldn't discredit the feeling inside that there was something strange going on in the background. Sure — David was a tad unpredictable at times, it certainly wasn't helping he didn't want to hear a word about their relationship until Sue gut-punched him. But even then, when the situation called for it, David was straight with him much like anyone else and normally he'd come through. Something about earlier made him feel that there was something very important behind it all, but he was drawing a blank; every thought that went back to that moment went back to those stupid fictional ships he spoke about that morning. He tried to wonder why? Was there some correlation?

Sue was still visibly furious with David, 'At least he gets it now. He can join us in this reality instead of some fantasy world.' She said.

'That's a bit harsh, you know?' Paulo commented.

'Is it?' She challenged.

'I was just thinking this is coming from someone who roleplays a fantasy game themselves. You know?' Paulo joked.

'Hey! That's completely different!' Sue said in protest. 'And I don't live in it like he does!'

Paulo laughed at it, there'd been a point said. He returned to his thoughts again. He thought about David. He wondered whether it was all as it seemed? Something from that morning just wasn't clicking with him. He couldn't answer it himself; he needed help. He turned to Sue. The thing David said earlier sounded pretty nerdy, and she was a complete nerd, right? He thought it was better to ask; 'What do you know about shipping?' He asked.

'Shipping?'

'Like, character shipping.'

'Why this all of a sudden?' She asked, a little curious, but also suspicious; nothing Paulo would ask about normally.

'David said something about it earlier after I was done talking to him about us. I couldn't make heads or tails of it.'

'Do I really want to search for greater insight to David's thoughts?'

'Come on, just work with me here. I'm just interested in seeing where he was trying to come from, do you know what I'm talking about?'

'Well, I might. . .know a small amount about it, but why?'

'Dunno, figure it might help.'

'Why ask me though?'

'Because you're the biggest nerd I know.' He smiled.

A frown appeared on her face. 'Oh! Now I'm not going to tell you!'

'Hey come on! I meant it jokingly.' He laughed. 'But seriously you read more books than I do so I thought you might know something about it. Do you?'

Sue sighed. 'Alright — I know a small amount, what did you want to know?'

'David said something about different. . . personalities, I guess? One particular group couldn't get along unless they did. . . things. . .' He scratched his head, he was having difficulty remembering the details. 'Actually, forget it. I'm forgetting everything, I was pretty zoned out about it.'

Sue rolled her eyes, ' _Augh_ , I have a feeling I know what you're talking about — If you want to be two dimensional about it, you can think like that. I mean, I _guess_ that cliché could exist. It depends on the writer.'

'What do you mean?' He found himself regretting those words as Sue's eyes lit up at the moment's notice of interest.

'Well if you want to throw out everything about the character out the window and resolve a problem between them, I guess you could. But that rips out their background and the history between them, and not to mention—', He'd already zoned out. There was a chance he felt he could've been more invested but the problem with David still occupied his thoughts. While Sue continued to explain the intricate details of character matching and relationships, Paulo cupped his hand to his chin and nodded, trying to use what she was saying to piece together that morning. At the same time, there was something nice about this, Sue giving him her thoughts on such a topic. If only he had the concentration or ability to find himself interested in it.

'—Anyway I hope that explains whatever you were interested in.'

Paulo shook his head, 'Nope, not a thing.'

Sue sighed at him in frustration, before her attention went to a book escaping her grip, landing in front of them.

'Hang on, I'll get that for you.' Paulo said promptly. He reached for the book.

'If you could. It actually hurts to bend over.'

It clicked, Paulo froze and took a moment before retrieving the book. When it all came together he rose back to his full height and put the book under his arm. 'I'll carry this.' He told her.

'Thank you, Paulo, but you don't need to. I can at least handle my books. Look, just going back to earlier, let's put this thing with David behind us for today. He knows now, so there's nothing more to say about it. Let's just treat this point forward like any other school day.' She said, walking ahead again.

He tried to say nothing, but a part of him couldn't. He called back from behind her; 'Actually, thinking about it more now. I think it might've ended up worse.' He scratched his cheek with a finger.

Sue turned around, 'What do you mean?'

'J—Just a random thought! I was just thinking I probably should've stopped you earlier. . . But. . .ah forget it, it's okay. Like you said; we'll see him during lunch.'

Sue grew curious, 'No, explain. I'm still not following you. He knows now, right?'

'He knows, he knows. It's just. . . ah. . .you know what? Never-mind what I was saying, I was just thinking of something! Come on, we've got class to go to.' He tried to wrap an arm around Sue, but Sue threw him off and broke free.

'Stop acting so strange, now I'm really worried! What're you on about?'

'Don't worry about it! You don't want to—'

She tried folding her arms her arms the best way she could with the one free arm. 'Spill it! If you're hiding something, I'm going to get to the bottom of it. I can guarantee you on that. How is it worse now?'

Paulo's eyes narrowed on her, already knowing Sue had a fine art of getting to the truth of something. He couldn't trust whether he could really keep it from her. Whether or not she really needed to know this truth was something he just didn't believe she had to know. 'I'm telling you it's nothing to worry about. I—I already explained it to him. He knows! Just forget about what I said, he . . .had a different view of how it all happened, is all!'

'I can only begin to imagine what David was really thinking about.' Sue said in thought. 'Hey, this relates to earlier with the shipping thing, doesn't it?' She looked at him expectedly for an answer. 'What did he say?'

'W—Well he talked about a few things, nerds online, relationships. . .' Paulo began to recount. Sue moved her hand to her hip. She knew he was still holding back. His face contorted as it slipped out, '. . .Something vulgar. . .'

' _Vulgar_?' She shouted, some shock on her face.

'Look, I'm not elaborating, at least. . . not here. Let's just talk to him when Lunch comes around. I seriously wouldn't look into it.' He pointed towards her books in her other hand. 'Pass me the rest of those.'

Sue shook her head, 'I can carry these.'

'Nonsense; let me take them from you. Here, pass.' He reached out for them, but Sue's arm shifted so they hid behind her. 'Sue.' He said sternly.

'We aren't supposed to do couple-like things, remember?'

'Yeah, I know that. I'm just doing this as a friend; pass them.'

Sue held her books closer to herself, showing some unease in her face, before eventually coming around. 'Alright, fine.' She shifted her arm and took the books in her free hand before holding them out to him. 'Here.'

'Danke. Come on, better get moving before the bell rings.'

He took them and began leading her towards the classroom again. Sue lagged behind for a moment, blushing a little bit as several eyes turned towards them. Sue charged ahead of him, walking in front. Paulo shook his head.

* * *

Along the same hallway as their class, Sue's walk had slowed to a dawdle behind him, she'd been stuck in thought; her free hand cupped to her chin. With Paulo unwilling to share his thoughts about David's behaviour, it was up to her. Something about it drew her attention more than just before. She wanted to take Paulo's word for it. If the whole conversation from David was as crass as he described, she just wasn't interested. But. . .it was about them, so she couldn't help but be just a little interested in it.

She thought back to that moment with keen precision; she walked through the doors, she saw them by David's locker. She had assumed that Paulo would have spoken to him about it. She couldn't lie, there was some ingenuity in it. David was the kind of person who was likely to freak out about it and make it into some huge deal. Better to have dealt with that then when he could've. But David did freak out. So why? What if he-. Oh god, what if he _didn't_ believe Paulo. Then when she said—

She remembered, then she realised.

'Ow! Sue! Ack!'

They were right at the door to the classroom and ready to walk in, before Paulo felt nails dig into his shoulder as Sue pulled him away from it. She dragged him into a side hall that was empty and pushed him up against the wall, her face red as ever.

'He didn't think we had _sex_ that night, did he?!' She panicked.

'Ow! Ow! Sue! Your nails! Stop!' Paulo complained.

'Just answer the question!'

'Jesus! Yes! He said something about it as much earlier! Said something about his stupid online communities and our kind not being possible unless we—Ow! OW! Sue! Let go! Your nails!'

Sue having realised released her grip. She wanted to apologise, but her hands moved to her face instead and covered it as it grew redder. Paulo couldn't help but feel sorry for her.

'Is it really that bad?' He asked, before the regret instantly set in.

'Of course it is, you block-head! Do you think I want to look like a whore to the school?!'

'I—I didn't. . . I didn't mean! N—No! I'd. . .' He stammered.

'What are we going to do? I couldn't live if David goes around spreading rumours! Today's been awful enough!' Sue wailed, coming close to tears.

Paulo's hand went to his phone in his pants pocket, he withdrew it and started tapping on the screen frantically.

'What are you doing? Are you texting him?' She asked.

'Yeah, give me a second. I'm sending him an explanation, and something a little extra just to cement it.' Paulo said. He held up the message to her once he was done. 'There. Is that better?' He asked.

Sue read it over. 'Y—Yeah.' Sue said. It was brief and clear enouh that anyone would have gotten the message, surely David would too, so long as he was willing to listen to reason. There was one problem with the message, specifically the following part. The look in her face spoke volumes about her confidence in it, 'Is the death threat really necessary?' She asked.

'If we're a seat empty around lunch, you'll find him in the river in the park.'.

'Paulo, I want this fixed, but you're not murdering one of our friends.'

'Why not?'

'Because I don't want that!'

'What if I just take him around the back of the school.'

'No!'

'Come on, it'll get the message across faster, can't you think of it like I'm defending your honour?'

'How very Abbey of you!'

He frowned, 'Alright. Point taken. And for what it's worth, I was joking for the better part of it — look, you're not as sad as you looked before!' He said. 'Suppose actually the best I could really do is just give him the cold shoulder for a couple of months.'

'He's so lucky I'd not write something about him!' Sue said, referring to the school newsletter.

'What on earth would you write?'

'Oh, I could think of a whole raft of things!'

'Let's hope it doesn't come to whatever that is.' Paulo chuckled worryingly.

Sue shook her head, 'Don't give me that face, suppose I was kidding too. I could just ban him from the table for a little bit. That's punishment, right?'

Paulo's phone vibrated. He opened it and read the 'Gotcha' that came back. He held it outward towards Sue. 'Here.'

Sue sighed. Her face softened. 'I, umm, earlier, didn't hurt you, did I?'

Paulo looked at his arm, 'Nah, man, it's okay.'

'No, let me look.' She said reaching for it. He moved it away. She jumped in the new direction. Missed! And again. But his arm moved. 'Paulo.' She said looking up at him, holding out her hand. Paulo sighed. He held it out towards her. She studied her marks. 'Are my nails really sharp enough to do this? Come on, we're going to the nurse's office.'

'No.' He said pulling his arm back. 'We've already got one rumour running around, we don't need another. Besides, it's not hurting anymore.'

Sue held onto her broken arm. 'I'm sorry. Nothing's going right at all today.'

He came beside her and gave her a small hug. 'Don't worry about it. I'd freak out this whole thing too if I was in your position. Today's just started out rough.'

Sue smiled at his sentiment, but still felt awful. They both walked out of the hallway, Paulo turned to her again once he realised someone had been missing all this time. 'By the way, where's Amaya, she's usually with you in the mornings?'

'Oh, right!' Sue started, remembering what she was going to tell him that morning. 'I was going to mention it when I walked up to you back there originally; you're my closest friend for the next couple of weeks.'

Paulo's eyes narrowed onto her, 'Even though _I'm_ the boyfriend?'

She smiled, 'No, no, no! I mean that in a way Amaya's on the bad list for the next couple of weeks.' Sue explained.

He blinked, 'Why?'

'Amaya blabbed.' She said. Just at that second, Sue had looked out to her side and at that exact moment eyed Amaya following in the corridor. Amaya looked up just in time to see her glare and darted into one of the rooms, before peeking out towards the two of them. Sue huffed in disbelief.

'Amaya blabbed?!' Paulo said shocked. 'Is that even possible?'

'Oh, don't play stupid, you know how much Amaya talks when she's completely into something.' Sue said, laughing to herself. 'I suppose that also extends to things about her friends. But yeah, she's on the naughty list for the next couple of days. I really asked her not to, I swear.'

'And I thought for a second you were grilling me for telling someone earlier.'

'Hey, I thought I was doing us a favour.'

'I did too! Who thought they'd both turn out to be bad ideas!' Paulo said shaking his head. 'So, what's the damage then?

'I'm not sure. At most, most of my MMO group seems to know as much.'

'I suppose it isn't a problem if it's such a small group.' Paulo said, recounting the days when Mike used to talk about it.

'It's…not really as small as it used to be.'

'O—Oh?'

'Yeah, we actually picked up quite a few people.'

'Oh! Well that's good to hear!'

'Yeah, but for the exact number of people. . . Amaya accidentally sent a server announcement.'

Paulo was silent. 'What does that mean?'

Sue was hesitant, 'Maybe most of the people in our class know?'

Paulo froze, 'Our whole class?!'

'Well . . .maybe not the whole school but at least our year, I'd say.'

'That's still lot of people.' Paulo said, still struggling to come to terms with the new situation, he stared at her. 'Are you okay? You appear incredibly fine with all of this given earlier.'

'Am I?' Sue asked him.

'You're not?'

There was a bit of a shake in her voice, 'I—I don't know anymore. I mean nothing's really come up from it, has it?'

Paulo looked out to his left, he caught a few glances from people walking past the corridor, he recognised them from his year. They whispered to each other. He turned back to Sue. 'No, suppose not.'

'I'm sorry.'

'Why?'

'I'm a hypocrite! I gave you shit about it earlier but I didn't want to be the one who seems to have made it worse.'

'It's fine, Sue. I told you yesterday I wouldn't be worried if people found out.'

'I know. . . but people are going to be talking about it and—'

'Augh, they were talking about it before. People always talk about new relationships, they'll get bored of it soon and then things will go back to normal.' He put his hand on her shoulder. 'Anyway, you better forgive Amaya, she's a good friend and it had to be a mistake.'

'I—I suppose. I might make her stew for a bit.' She thought aloud. 'You'd think you'd know a girl, right?'

'Right!' Paulo laughed in agreement. 'Are you feeling better?'

'A little.'

'Good, So, does that mean—'

'No, distraction rule is still in place.'

'Shoot.' Paulo laughed.

Sue smiled. 'I'm going in, suppose we'll talk more about lunch.'

'Okay, looking forward to it.' He said, he handed her books back to her.

As Sue disappeared into the doorway, Paulo recognised an orange figure skulking beside him. As he turned his head towards them, he watched as they cupped her hands together and held them above their bowed head. Paulo smiled, but shook his head at Amaya as she said her loudest 'Sorry!' to him.

'Don't worry about it, no harm done. But the one you want to apologise to is in there though.' He said pointing towards Sue's desk. He watched as Amaya nodded and waved to him as she ran off to her own class.

He smiled and shook his head. He walked into the classroom and found his seat.

* * *

Sue bit down on the end of the pencil's eraser during the lesson in frustration; she found herself having difficulty answering the questions on the worksheet. Not because they were particularly difficult — she and Paulo had studied relentlessly enough over the month just to prepare for these questions. They were menial at best. The problem came to be the fact she just couldn't focus on the class whatsoever.

She glanced forward from her worksheet to Paulo in the front row of the classroom — her decision; she stays down the back of the room, and he works from the front, for both a learning advantage and, well, just so Paulo wouldn't get distracted. Because he would — it was Paulo after all, she'd believed.

But she began to regret that decision. Ironically, the tables had ended up being turned, she didn't count or herself being distract by him being so far away. She wanted to ask him a question. She was embarrassed about it inside. Even worse; still distracted and very embarrassed as she still mulled over that morning's incident inside her head.

She tried to focus on the work in front of her but for the last fifteen minutes she hadn't made much progress. She quickly looked around to others in the class, how far behind exactly was she? Then the panic set in, they were already on the second page! She fumed! She couldn't take it! She needed to get onto the work but a single question plaguing her that morning.

Paulo wasn't expecting her to _put out_ at any point, right?

She felt her skin burn. There was a bit of embarrassment in her that David's stupid shipping had provoked such thoughts. She was going to kill him later.

As a shame as it was, Paulo was well known to a lot of people for sleeping around. It had gotten him into trouble a number of times too. But sleep around he did. And Rachel, his last partner had been vocal about their antics before, not that she paid too much attention to them.

What did that mean for them? Was Paulo expecting the same? Was it normal for him?

Though, she considered, on the other-hand, when Paulo dated Jasmine for the time, there was absolutely no mention of anything sexual between them. Jasmine said he was nothing short of a gentleman. Something she'd never believe then herself until much later. Given that point, she wondered if she might have been over-thinking it. He never did the wrong thing the day before, he was about as gentle as Jasmine described.

That should have been enough to think otherwise, Sue told herself. For some reason, the whole thing continued to bother her. For some reason, somehow — she felt it became important to discuss it with him to solve right then and there. But she couldn't! Not with him all the way at the front of the room. Try her best to tell herself to wait until lunch or even later, it just couldn't!

At the same time, she begged herself to know why in the fuck was this so crucial to her?

It fell on deaf ears; she realised there was still one way she could ask him. She flicked her phone out from beneath her desk while keeping an eye on the teacher. Phones were banned during class, there was no way in hell she'd be able to keep the conversation going between them. But she still had to know. But was it still the wrong place and time to even think about asking? Even worse, what would happen if one of them got caught? What was one of the unfair punishments teachers threatened to do if they caught anyone? Read it out aloud to the class? Oh God. Oh Jesus. She couldn't!

. . .But she needed to know!

What a conflict! Despite everything; the need to know, the need to be sure — there was supposed to be an effort not to turn the whole thing into a distraction, this was one of the worst ways she could accomplish that! It wasn't her intention! But. . .they were in a relationship, and Paulo had been in a few of them before which weren't just hugging, hand holding. . . and kissing.

She hadn't been in a real relationship before. Was that expected in a normal relationship? Would she be a worse girlfriend if she didn't? Would Paulo really think less of her? Was it even remotely okay to think like that in the first place?! She just didn't know!

And it wasn't that she didn't. . .have these kind of feelings before; that she could—. . . That one day she'd—, and he'd—, and then he'd wrap her gently in his arms, and—. . .

Sue collapsed onto her desk and gave a sigh. She gave it a real moment this time and some deeper consideration. She was overthinking things; it was clear now. The chances of him not expecting her to do anything in that realm were very likely in their own right. After all, she considered; Paulo was against dating originally that whole year, but he still made the allowance just for her. He had his own sights on the prize. He was going to graduate. That's what he wanted.

Anything that wasn't just that was just going to be a distraction; plain and simple.

She was over thinking it. Paulo had promised her.

There was zero expectation.

She was going to put her trust in Paulo.

Meanwhile Sue's thumb had already worked at the question into the text message and sent it without her realising. She stared down at it in horror. Then upwards to Paulo, who made some subtle gestures as if he was sneaking his phone as well. . . until it looked like he was backing off.

 _He just scratched his side!_ she realised. _You're going to read my message aren't you, Paulo_?!

He didn't. Not for the whole day.

* * *

Sue sat at the desk in her room that late evening with only the hum from the desk lamp keeping her company as she continued the activity sheet from earlier that day. She'd finished the majority of her homework, and she ploughed through the worksheet uninhibited. She'd forgotten why she had trouble with it. Combined with the study during lunch and the extra drama club activities, the ordeal from that morning was somewhere stashed in the back corner of her memory. She'd completely forgotten about earlier and the message she sent to Paulo as well.

One thing she did know, was she was utterly bored.

Her shoulders dropped, and she sat back in her chair once she wrote the final equation and the answer. There was still her science book that was about as much energy she could stand to put on homework for that one evening. It had been a long day. She'd been working non-stop since she'd gotten home. She was utterly bored and felt deprived of fun, having dedicated most of her time to Paulo to make sure he would graduate. All at the cost of things she'd enjoy; like new books, watching movies, or even making new quests for her MMORPG Group.

She dropped her pencil, pushed her books aside and flicked open her phone. She could continue the homework tomorrow that earlier morning before she left for school. Alternatively, she schemed - she could ask Paulo for his, just to see if he was keeping up and then borrow his answers. Ah, nefarious indeed, although that would be cheating, and she was the tutor, she wouldn't dare. With her phone open she did her usual; she checked her email, scrolled through her messages; taking a time to marvel at how many Amaya had left, all profusely apologising for earlier that day. She couldn't keep this up. The punishment had gone on for long enough. She really needed to let her know things were all cool. She tacked on the screen and sent the message to Amaya. She turned the screen off and stretched.

Her phone vibrated again, she anticipated that would be Amaya quick on the dial. She opened her phone again, but the message wasn't from her, it was from a different person; her boyfriend. A single message: 'This could explain the stink-eye you've been giving me the whole day. Thank god it was only this!'

She remembered. She started a reply. 'I didn't mean to! Sorry! I just needed to know, don't ask why.' She wrote. Then, 'Do you?'

The reply came back without any delay. 'No! Not at all!'

A sigh of relief. All that panic that day had been for nothing as she'd come to expect. Paulo was keeping to his word; focused on graduating. Though, she couldn't lie to herself, that made her feel just a teensy little bit insecure. 'Nothing's wrong with asking, right?' She texted.

'Never wanted to force you to do anything if you don't want to.' Was the response.

She couldn't help but blush and gush to herself as the feeling he was being thoughtful of her washed over her. 'Sorry, didn't want to complicate things with the question.'

''Salgood, Sue.' Came the response.

She chewed on a thumbnail. She wrote in 'But what if—' but then stopped like she did back in the classroom. More thought, she'd never be the sort of person who'd dare talk about such things in person. She knew enough about it despite so; she did hang out with a lot of people who had boyfriends of their own. Was it still too early to ask about? It had only been the second day.

Rachel, Jess — that one time, Tess. They'd all. . .done it, once, at one stage in their life, closer at the age she was at now. It was normal. . . right? It's just another way of showing your lover affection. A more complicated way, maybe, but one people described as being something wholly different. She couldn't lie; that was what intrigued her, that whole idea. That made her jealous of the others.

A blank pause as Paulo already shot something back; 'Then again, if you _were_ interested. . .' Along with a wink emoji. She groaned and tacked back her own response, erasing the one she had before.

'The moment's passed. I'd check back in about a year's time.'

'Doh!' The next message said, followed by another 'But, seriously: never made the assumption and don't want to complicate anything for you.'

She smiled at the message. She really did strike something remarkable after so many years. If only, if only this Paulo could've been the Paulo she knew years ago. Or maybe he was like that already, a diamond in the rough. 'Thanks Paulo, just needed to confirm since we never talked about it. Gonna go back to study now.'

'Okay! See you tomorrow!' The response said.

She paused. 'OX' she sent.

' ^n3n^ ~3' Came back.

'Cheeky!' She said, smiling. Where did he learn that from? Mike?

She pushed her phone to the side and pulled her books back. With all the trouble in her head now gone she really wanted to make all this worth it. Maybe she'd have a real break sometime, even better, maybe she'd spend it with Paulo if she could get him to read more of her books.


	22. My dear friend

'Bullshit.'

Paulo sat back in his chair but kept staring at the chat window off his laptop for a moment. He reached over and took the cup of tea he left by it and took a sip of it, before setting it back down and sitting back with his arms folded to himself. He scratched his chin. _Any minute now_ , he told himself.

And sure enough, the follow up message blipped up on the screen. 'Since when?' it asked him.

'Official a few days ago but we're keeping it on the down-low.' He continued, and pressed return. He thought for a second. 'For the obvious reasons.' He felt he needed to add.

'No, I figured as much. Sue was great at keeping things to herself.'

'When did she ever not?' Paulo typed.

'Ah. Yeah.'

'Anyway she kept it to herself up until we spent one night at my house when that super storm rolled in.'

'At your house?!'

'Long long story, but she became stranded and stayed the night.' He went back to his drink.

'You guys didn't….'

His eyes almost fell out of his head and he spluttered the contents of his drink in all directions some of it went down his windpipe by accident. He coughed it up before frantically typing back ' _No!_ '

'Oh thank god. Because that wasn't sounding like Sue at all.'

'I didn't ask, and it didn't go down like that. At most we shared the same bed and we just slept in it.'

'You /shared/ a bed?'

Paulo blinked at the messages, he assumed the words in the backspaces meant they were supposed to be a heavy emphasis. It wasn't often he spoke online with his friends. 'What?' He asked.

'/That/ doesn't sound like Sue.'

'Well we did. It was fucking cold that night.'

'Gosh, you had her under your finger and even then…'

He'd seen Sue type it once before into her phone. He replied with '-_-;'

'…Oh my god you are typing like her. It just felt good teasing you this once.' The message said, and another message a second later 'So, you're keeping to your word?'

Paulo sighed at the monitor. 'Nothing's changed.' But he didn't hit send. His hand came up and he rest it off the table. He stared at the screen, and hit enter. Paulo sat there for another moment. 'Thanks for helping me out with Rachel, by the way.'

'I didn't do anything, you just needed to tell her.'

'Yeah, well you were there for me.' Paulo sent, he smiled. 'How's the old ball and chain handling you now that you're in the same building as her?' He sent again.

'Alright.' Mike sent back.

A miserable feeling filled Paulo's gut while he waited. He tapped his fingers on the desk. There was going to be more to his message, wasn't there? He continued to wait. But still nothing. He swore to himself, he was getting impatient. 'And?' Paulo typed.

'Yeah.' Came back.

Paulo sat back in his chair and sighed to himself - it wasn't even a straight answer. There had been a fear in him back that one time where he held Mike in his arms back in the cafeteria. Some surprise in Paulo, that had almost been nearly more than a year ago by now. He had asked Mike weeks before whether he had, or at least asked if she could at least start talking to him over the phone more. Paulo had guessed he had, or at least had tried to. Maybe that's why he disappeared right after, the question changed into a different question. Paulo thought to put his faith in his gut feeling that maybe if they were both together, things might've worked out.

But it seemed that wasn't the case at all. There was trouble in dreamland.

Paulo's fingers rapped on his chin. Now came the harder part. It was difficult to get Mike to talk about the problem in the past, having coped a face-full of a table and a lot of stares that frankly, scared the ba-jeezus out of him in the past. Not that he was scared of that, but…

He typed the only thing that felt reasonably sensible at the time, 'I'm around if you ever want to talk about it.'

'I'll think about it. I still want to try some things.'

'Alright. Just let me know if you need a hand.'

'Yeah, sure. I'd better get going. Got a few things to take care of. I'll catch up soonish.' As soon as the message arrived, the online indicator next to Mike's username disappeared.

A hand came up to Paulo's head. He'd forgotten to give him his mobile number. _Oh well_ , he told himself, _there'll be another time._ He rose from his seat at the same moment he heard his father pull up to the house. He went out the front to him and pulled various tools and equipment off the back and helped put them inside.

The weekend was going to be busy, they were going to replace the pipes in the house.

* * *

 **Author's note: A very short chapter that was part of a bigger one this time. Sorry. The last couple of weeks had been rough and I'd been mostly disposed of. We have one more new chapter before we go back to the draft chapters. I hope to have this story all wrapped up in a few weeks.**


	23. The Invitation

Paulo found himself staring out to space sometime during the next day. He paid no attention to the world around him as it went about its business, he thought nothing about it or anything else — he just stared forwards, looking out into nothing. Moments before he'd been thinking back to last night, when Mike finally appeared out of the blue after half a year of disappearing. He couldn't help thinking even further to the year prior; back when Mike told him their plan to move to Richter. He remembered how he felt, he remembered telling himself he would make the last few days with Mike count; they'd do the last few things they could between close friends; go to the movies, ride bicycles (after all, he never won that bicycle they were after. He'd be okay with renting them — he had no problem dipping into his savings this one time), and go on a mountain trip, and all the functions that Roseville had to offer. Paulo had committed himself to the idea, and it was quite something to behold. That event caused Paulo, for the first time, to plan something in advance. A first-time thing to be sure, but it would be his last holiday with Mike.

Ah hell. . .It wouldn't be just with him, Paulo knew his friends wouldn't forgive him if he kept him to himself. They'd all go; David, Daisy, Sue and Abbey. . .Well. . .he wasn't so sure if Abbey would come along, he'd try regardless. He was sure Daisy wouldn't forgive him if she learned otherwise. Abbey was also Mike's friend. It was only fair that he would try to bring him on board, Paulo supposed.

Mike's last holiday, with them.

But it wouldn't be.

They all found Mike's seat empty that following morning, the same day as graduation. It wasn't the only thing; he remembered how empty he felt.

That evening, Paulo had taken the long way home that evening once school was finished for that year. He stopped on the side walk just outside Mike's house. He turned towards it, and for a moment he thought as if his instincts were telling him to climb up the side of the house, and looking through Mike's bedroom window. It felt reminiscent. He'd realised he had done much the same with Lucy's that one time when she had left the school during their sophomore year. That feeling of that stuck with him. Suddenly, it didn't sound so good.

He was sure Mike was long gone. He was pretty sure Sandy had dropped in as convenient as it was for her. His shoulders fell with his sigh, and he continued home, watching the side walk passing his feat.

He reached home in no great shortage of time, he made his way upstairs to his bed, he wrapped himself up in the blanket, and sobbed to himself for a few hours.

His closest friend was gone, and he felt alone.

There had been so many things he wanted to tell Mike last night. He'd only just managed to tell him he was dating Sue, the only thing that. . . well, felt important to get out the door. There were so many things he wanted to catch up on. He wanted to know everything about Richter after all, there was no saying when Mike would be back online again. But above all, he wanted to tell him how much he missed him.

And that was about as much that he thought about. Afterwards, nothing, and Paulo was alone in the world, like back then. He saw nothing, heard nothing, felt nothing. . .

But he did smell something.

Something good. Something delicious. Something that had found its way under his nose. Miraculously, it managed to snap him out of his stupor. He sat back and observed the object that was ever so held out before him. It resembled a chocolate muffin. His stomach growled — he was starting to remember. He hadn't eaten yet. It was lunch. He was at school. . .

And importantly, he was surrounded by his friends.

He followed the hand that held the muffin back to the person who owned it. He found Sue. 'What's this?' He asked, 'Mine?'

'I'm holding it out for you, aren't I?' She said, seeming rather agitated given how slow he'd been to get the point, but the look she gave dissipated once Paulo took it from her hands and smiled in her direction. It caused her to shake her head, roll her eyes and smile back. He properly thanked her and put it down in front of himself. He was about to return to his thoughts again, before noticing Sue hadn't moved. She stood there as if she was expecting something. He looked up at her with a puzzled. He was going to say something to her, but she got in first. 'I would've thought you of all people would've been hungry. You're not even going to have a bite?' She asked, her hands going to her hips. 'Could've sworn you think with your gut most of the time. Are things okay? You were kind of phased out there for a bit.'

'It's nothing.' Paulo told her.

'He was staring into my eyes' David cut in from across the table. 'Lost in an endless sea.'

'Yeah, Sue, the only thing empty was the space I was peering into.' Paulo cut in.

Sue and Amaya snickered as David's eyes narrowed onto Paulo in such a way as if Paulo had just betrayed him.

Paulo turned to Sue, 'I'll eat in a little bit, I'm just not as hungry right now.'

'Really? How come?' She asked, folding her arms. 'You didn't skip out of the class before for an early lunch earlier, did you?' She asked.

He shook his head, 'What? No! Look, I'll eat, alright? Just not now. I was just thinking about stuff, stop babying me.'

'Oh?' She said curiously. 'That doesn't happen often.'

'The babying thing? Seriously you've been doing it daily.'

'No, I meant the thinking thing.' She laughed.

'Oh, har har.' He bought his hand up onto the table and rest his head off it. 'What's with the attitude today?'

'Nothing. You just need to eat! But, if you're not going to, you're going to tell me what's gotten into you, right?'

'Gee, do I want to tell you?'

David waved his hands around like a magician getting ready for his biggest trick, 'You're dying to tell us.' He said.

Paulo stared at David, and sighed — he was right; he wanted to tell them about Mike. But at the same time, a feeling inside of him didn't want to. They'd all been happier for the last couple of weeks. Did he really want to ruin it by bringing this up? He turned to Sue, the look she gave him a look that made him wonder if she was serious about telling her, and this was one of those times where she really wanted him to tell her what the problem was. He felt agitated thinking about it. Technically, he'd agreed to doing that from now on. It was part of the renewed agreement between them.

As it had been; If Sue was going to make any kind of request for Paulo in their relationship — and she did — she made her first demand that if there was any kind of problem he thought he could fix by himself, he'd at least talk to her about it as well. Not just with a problem in their relationship, but with anything in general. Paulo had originally thought Sue was just being nosey, but Sue said it was something to do with two heads being better than one. It was only a little later Paulo realised Sue looking to stave off the main element that caused Paulo so much grief in the past — and that was his reluctance to talk to anyone about his problems. In a way, he felt that maybe there was some truth in it. His reluctance to open-up had almost cost him some close friendships. It also decimated others beyond repair, those ones he'd rather not think about. It felt like such a harmless request but as he thought about it, he started to feel like maybe it wasn't such a good idea. He just didn't want to feel like a victim. Nevermind that he was born into a broken family. He just didn't want to feel any different from his other well-off friends. It killed him inside worse than anything else to feel so different and disadvantaged.

But Sue promised they'd work through anything. And he knew he couldn't keep this to himself.

Sue was growing concerned in the meanwhile. 'Is everything alright?'

'Mike was online last night.'

They atmosphere in around the table almost froze. His friends their eyes grew wider as the message sank in. Naturally, Sue was the first to react.

'H—He was? What did he say?'

'Not much. Only managed to speak to him for a few minutes before he had to go.' Paulo replied sombrely.

'W—Was he alright? Are he and Sandy getting along?'

Paulo shook his head. 'Didn't stay on long enough to find out.'

Sue's ears fell. 'Do you know when he'll be online again?'

Again, he shook his head, 'No, didn't even give me a second to catch him up on events. He fell offline as soon as he came up.' He shrugged. 'I tell ya, he misses us, surely. I'll let you guys know if he's back online again.'

Sue's sighed, 'Of all the days when I choose not to be online.'

'Oh?' Paulo said before sitting straight. 'I noticed that, what were you up to?'

'That's a secret.'

'Are you serious? You can't even tell me that? You know, we spoke about this. . .'

She didn't forget. 'Oh, I know! And it's not that! It'll be obvious soon enough. I assure you. More importantly, about earlier; what happened? Why did they pull you out of the class?'

'It wasn't for anything! I just got called up to the guidance councillor.' He turned to the muffin Sue handed him from before. He decided he was finally getting hungry. He held it up in front of him. 'It was just a check-up, seeing how I was going, and all that.' With that, he bit into the muffin, his eyes grew a little wider. 'Oh! This is good! Was this from the canteen?'

'What? No! I made it!' Sue said.

'You're kidding! This is really good!' He shouted.

'What are you trying to say? Did you expect worse?' She said, looking cross.

'Oh my god. I was not! I'm complimenting you!'

Sue's eyes narrowed onto him judgingly. Before she smiled again, she crossed her arms. 'Spent a couple of hours doing a bit of cooking at home yesterday.' She said, feeling proud. 'Though I was really worried I went too hard on the sugar. Not too sweet?'

'Not at all! This is really good!'

She gave a sigh of relief. The feeling she got from seeing someone enjoy her cooking won out over the disappointment that she missed out on catching Mike that evening. But she became concerned. 'Are you sure you're alright? You've been spaced out since you came back. Are those bags under your eyes?'

Paulo took his time to reply, he went to washing down the meal with a drink. 'Really, Sue. It's great you're worrying about me, but you shouldn't. I just didn't sleep much last night.'

A bit of concern in her voice, 'Because of Mike?'

'No. Not Mike. I told you he's probably doing fine.'

He partially lied. Mike was only half of the reason.

'What time did you go to bed?' She asked.

'Seriously? 9PM. Are you happy?'

'No.'

'Why not?! That's when I went to bed!'

Sue cupped her hand to her chin. A thought came across her. 'No, because I just remembered something.'

'And what the hell was that?'

She sat forward from her chair. 'I just remembered that you're cheeky with words; how long did you actually sleep?'

'I'm not answering that!'

'Aha! You're lying!'

'I am not! I told you I went to bed at 9PM.' He looked towards David and Amaya. 'Can one of you please tell Sue to quit micromanaging me.' He looked back to Sue. 'We spoke about this.'

'Spoke about what.'

'This micromanagement thing.'

'I never agreed to anything, and I'm not micromanaging you!'

'Then what is it then? I just had trouble sleeping, alright? Take my word for it.'

'I'm supposed to care, aren't I?' She sat back in her chair. 'So, it was just that you couldn't sleep.'

'That's what I said.'

David let his elbows rest on the table while his hands supported his head. It wasn't ever a dull moment with these two, but he sighed to himself — It was like this since the two got together. He was interested in seeing where it was going, but after so many infights between the two sorting out their differences he started to wonder if things really would work out. Which of them would balk first. That was interesting, he couldn't help but make guesses. But he also wanted it to work out — his best friend's happiness was his upmost priority, and he knew he was lying to Sue just now. If things kept up, it was sure to end in misery.

He glanced at his phone and to the message Paulo sent him last night, then looked towards Amaya as if looking for an answer. The look she returned to him seemed to imply the same concern. David muttered an apology under his breath. 'If you weren't studying then why did I get a message about an English question. I'm not even in your class.' He asked.

Paulo's jaw dropped. 'Dude.'

'In bed at 9PM huh? As I suspected, it doesn't mean you slept.'

Paulo grit his teeth, he shot David another look. 'Dude.' He said.

'Shouldn't lie to your wife.' David shrugged.

'Shut up, she's not my wife.' He turned to Sue. 'I really can't take it when you ask about every little thing.'

'I have to know, I'm supposed to be tutoring you and if you're getting fatigued during the lessons that affects me as well!'

'Can you just stop it?' He asked. 'I'm not tired. This was a once only thing.'

'I'll stop when you can manage yourself.'

Paulo sat back in his chair and gave an exasperated sigh, he folded his arms, he took a moment. 'If you really want to know; five.'

'Five?'

'Hours. Five hours.' He clarified.

'That's not a lot. What were you doing?'

He shrugged. 'Study, what else?'

'You need to sleep! I know mid-terms are coming up but you shouldn't crucify yourself.' Sue said.

'I know! I know. You said that before, I just thought I'm not ready.'

'You'll do fine.' Sue said, 'The teachers said you did pretty good in the practice run. I wouldn't be too surprised if you get a high-A.'

He looked at her as if what she said was a joke, 'That's a bit too optimistic. . .' He thought aloud.

'No, you've always been a pessimist. Come on, it'll be alright.'

Paulo sighed, he bought his hand up and rest his head off it like she had. He watched her in much the same way she'd been watching him. Then he noticed it, he was surprised he didn't notice before. He scoffed a little, 'You know you're not looking much either.'

Sue appeared puzzled, she wasn't sure what he was trying to tell her. But then there was a realisation that spread across her face. 'Oh. . .shoot!' She withdrew to her back pocket and withdrew a tiny pocket mirror. She looked into it; Paulo was right, the bags under her eyes were showing, she missed a part of her face that morning.

Paulo was a little surprised. 'I didn't even notice the makeup at all. How long have you been doing that?'

'Not saying.'

He gave a frustrated sigh, 'Sue.'

'I suppose I'd been using it for a little while. I guess it's not half obvious, huh?' She said, trying to dab what little make up she could to mask the faint black outline at the bottom of her eyes.

'Guess I only noticed because you forgot this time.' He smiled. Sue didn't say anything, she wasn't so sure that was the whole answer.'

'You realy ought to get some sleep and just give the advance study a rest for a bit.'

'Anything to sleep in on the weekends, huh?' Sue asked.

'N—No.'

Sue rolled her eyes and took her time. Paulo trying to find a way to convince Paulo to sleep in during a weekend was a regular weekly event. But then she remembered. 'Actually, you might be happy to hear about this; but how about we do something else?'

Paulo sat up, he couldn't hide his surprise, they hadn't missed a weekend study session. 'What did you have in mind?'

Sue stood from her chair. 'Katie's Christmas party, of course!'

'Someone's hosting the Christmas party this year?' He stuffed the remainder the treat Sue gave him into his mouth. 'Why Katie?'

'She volunteered of course. She's got a large house, so she can fit a few people inside.' Sue explained.

'I guess it'd be only right if that's the case.' Paulo said, he gave it some thought. 'Are you sure it's not too early to party? Midterms start Monday.' He said, feeling the need to remind her.

She didn't need it. 'I think we'd deserve the break, we've made some good headway. Let's take the occasion!'

'Well. . . if you insist. Though, I never received an invite. I'm assuming that's what those little white envelopes I saw a couple of people handing around?'

'What do you think I'm giving you? Lame-brain? I'm giving you one myself! It's on the weekend around 6pm. You're gonna go, right?'

'Huh'. He said. 'Well I suppose I could miss study this week and party it up.'

'Oh my god. Just shut up and say you'll go with me.'

'Alright alright, I'll go, since you're being all too enthusiastic about it. Why though?'

'It'd be fun! I thought you wanted time off from study?'

'Course I do. But how did you even get invited? I've never seen you hang around Katie.' He asked, feeling curious.

'I actually got it through Stacy.'

Paulo ahh'ed, but couldn't help but wonder more about the party, or Sue's encouragement to go. It didn't seem to click with the amount of effort she spent trying to convince him to show some discipline in their study regimen, and now this. Though, on the other hand, he considered, he knew it was going to be rare they could hang out like this. It could be a lot of fun. 'Are you sure you want to go to a party? Wouldn't you prefer something quiet, like a movie?' He wondered.

'Well, a movie would be nice to go to, but Stacy really wants some of her friends over there.'

'How many people are going to this thing? Who's Katie inviting?'

'A few people?'

Curiouser and curiouser, 'A few people. . . from this school?'

She shook her head. 'Katie's got more friends outside of school. I think Stacy is outnumbered on friends there.' She explained.

'Ah, so it's more to keep Stacy company. Why didn't you just say so?'

'Because it feels lame like that. Isn't it good to just go do something different for a change?'

'I never meant that.' He said, scratching his chin. 'Just feels weird coming from you.'

'What, because I'm having to force you to study?'

'Can you blame me?'

'I can be fun! We could be having fun if you didn't put yourself in this predicament in the first place!'

'Alright! Sorry! I'll take your word for it!' He said. 'I mean, I guess Stacy could use the company, and we had been going at it pretty hard in the books. Whatever. Saturday at six, right? Count me in.'

'Are you sure that's all?'

'It'd also be fun to see you get embarrassingly drunk again.'

Sue made her sigh audible to him, ' _It'll be fun to hang out together with you, too_.'


	24. The Party

Paulo had expected to slog his way through an inch of snow on the side-path much like he had several hundred meters or so before. But he found when he stepped foot into the richer part of Roseville, the pavement had been cleared. He wondered if whether the town municipals had been paid to make frequent runs through this part of the town. He didn't need to think for long. He found himself proven right. In no shortage of time, he heard motorised machinery and glanced towards the origin over the other side of the road. Sure enough, there it was; a motorised snow plougher. It was quite an expensive piece of equipment he guessed. Obviously, the town's too — he couldn't help but notice the city emblem on the side. He watched it drive past and disappear off in the distance behind him where he came. After a moment, he thought he'd better get a move on. He knew what the feeling inside of him and but made no effort to express his frustration on the outside. He wouldn't let it get to him, like always…but shit, he couldn't help but think how nice the feeling would've been if his family was well off financially.

He started to notice his throat was dry. He'd been feeling somewhat parched from the walk from his house, it'd been a long one. There was some regret sinking-in having not taken up on Sue's offer to pick him up from his place, or at least meet him part way on Friday evening. His pride got in the way again. He didn't want to look like the poorest person heading to his party, a victim of his own upbringing. But walking probably made it much worse. He wondered how long the shoes he wore would hold out. They probably weren't designed for walking such distances. He would die of embarrassment if they fell to pieces if Sue wanted to dance. _Oh well._ He'd decided; he dug his pit. On the plus side, he wouldn't need a new pair any time soon; after all, his last prom was last year, unless Sue decided she had enough and some from the class under him tried to pick him up.

He laughed to himself; _as if_. Most of the other girls had started to hate him as badly as they hated Mike years ago. He supposed he was responsible for that, having convinced them he was cheating. But Mike saw a benefit in that. Now he knew what it felt like.

And he felt a little bit okay with that. He wondered when or if that was ever going to come back and bite him one day.

Maybe he should've just taken the damn car ride.

He reached the part of Roseville which was nothing but mansions, the sizes of which made Tess' luxurious house something more modest and quite small in comparison. But Katie's house was more extravagant. He knew this since the street her family lived on was also Katie's last name. He went there. He found the house by the set of balloons were tied down to the mailbox. He knew this house was Katie's and it wasn't just another mansion throwing another party; it was the only house on the lot.

Paulo considered that to be the place.

And he couldn't have been any more envious, the house was huge.

There was a lot of envy in him that Katie had been born into a rich family, not having to have worked a single second for her fortune and being relentlessly spoiled rotten by her parents in the meanwhile. She already had a car – a good one. Paulo would need to work well beyond his life expediency at Burgertron to buy something just as good. She also wore some of the best clothes to school, and it changed each and every season. She was just that filthy rich. It was no wonder that she had taken up the offer to run the Christmas party. Although, one had to wonder if it would have been appropriate, given the grades she'd been running with over the last few years. He'd have expected that she'd be hiring enough tutors to well make up, maybe that was true, he didn't see her in the catch-up classes when school resumed. She must have started to take an interest. He supposed he was the same deep down.

He laughed to himself at the thought, was there finally something he had in common with Katie? He shook his head, _surely not_.

Paulo couldn't stand her character at the best of times and Katie was a snob and a bully at the worst of times. He hadn't forgotten how she treated Daisy, and he made no effort to ever show a hint of affection in her direction. He hoped he didn't need to interact with her, or at least, have to deal with her for too long that night.

His throat was killing him. He hoped at the very least Katie was a bit of a party girl, and there was bond to be enough drinks at this party to last a lifetime.

He made his way through the front yard to the entrance; a large burley man folded his arms as he approached. Paulo couldn't help but be surprised, they'd hired a _bouncer?_ He wondered if that was even necessary for the Christmas party, or was she just trying to show off how rich they were? Paulo approached him.

'Do you have an invite?' The man asked as he approached.

Paulo nodded and reached for the invitation in his coat pocket and handed it over without saying a word. The man grunted at it and motioned inside. Paulo only managed to only get along side him before the bouncer's arm got in his way.

'You haven't got any better shoes?' He asked, pointing downwards.

Paulo looked down to his shoes, he didn't see the problem. He'd spent last night shining them up and doing what he could to make them look new again. 'What about them?' Paulo replied.

'They're out of fashion.'

'So what?! That shouldn't be a problem.' Paulo said back. He shook off the hand and tried to move forwards to the door, but the hand stopped him again. 'What's your deal?' Paulo said turning around. 'Look, I'm just a highschool student, I can't afford another pair of two hundred-dollar shoes!'

To his own relief he spotted Stacy emerging from behind the door at that moment. The bouncer had noticed as well.

'It's okay, you can let him in.' She called out.

The burley man released his hand from Paulo's shoulder, and Paulo took no time getting away from the bouncer and the cold and into the warmer interior of Katie's home.

Katie motioned towards the coat rack, and Paulo left his before following her to where the rest of their friends were. 'You'll have to forgive him, he's more used to events in town than small parties like these.' She said.

'I've been to a few. I'm pretty sure bouncers in town don't even bother guessing what year the shoes were made in, Stace.' Paulo muttered.

Stacy gave it some thought. 'Okay, _that_ might have been something Katie made him check, then.' She admitted.

'Ah, of course.'

She turned and clapped her hands together abruptly. 'It's really nice you were able to come! Another recognisable face in the crowd is something we need!'

He played dumb initially. 'What do you mean? Aren't most of the school here?'

Stacy said it almost as if the answer should have been obvious, 'No. Of course not; Katie doesn't have a lot of friends in the school, most of her friends don't go to our school. And the ones who had received the invites didn't bother to RSVP either.'

He didn't have the heart to tell her he'd only asked the question out from a necessity. Katie really had outdone herself on her snobbery and in a way he wondered if Stacy felt resentful over it. Then again, the way Stacy had said it made him think she'd expected it from the start. 'Then there's only a small number of us?' He asked.

'Six, maybe seven of us. Only a few who weren't already working were able to make it. I'm expecting the last one to appear soon so I'll take you over to where the familiar faces are.'

'Nobody's mingling with the strangers?'

'I haven't seen David for a while…' She wondered. 'Some party, huh?'

He shook his head. 'Hey, come on, I just got here. We can all have fun together.'

He expected Stacy to brighten up at that moment but instead she took a step back. He moved his head to the side in confusion, and a pair of arms came over his shoulders, grabbed hold with an unparallelled tightness causing him to lose his breath, and lifted him into the air. This whole thing felt familiar. He turned his head and recognised the one lifting him in the air. There could only one he knew who would do so with such enthusiasm.

'David!' He shouted.

'Buddy!'

'Put me down!'

David complied immediately, dropping Paulo at height.

Paulo only cared about his shoes at that moment, they really were being taken through their paces. 'Seriously, dude.' He said.

'Sorry! It's just everyone here is so boring! We need to liven this up!'

'No!' Stacy said pointing her hands out, but Paulo was already on it himself.

Paulo shook his head. 'Sorry man, can't do that. Sue already spoke to us about this; best behaviour, remember?'

He watched David's expression fade from happiness to a sulk.

'Dude, weak.' David said.

'Do you _remember_ what happened at Rachel's party?'

'It'll be fine! I didn't bring any games with me this time! But imagine all the pranks we could get up to!'

Paulo had only thought about observing Katie's house in that same second, only having cared to follow Stacy through to his friends. He didn't need to know what everything was made out of, the couches, the vases, the paintings on the wall. He was really sure it was all expensive. 'I'm not sure that's a good idea either. I don't want to risk breaking anything in here. Everything here would probably cost more than what I make in a year.' He said.

David had looked like he'd been wounded. 'Ah man, Sue's got you good, doesn't she?'

'Hey. We can have fun in our own little group.'

David stared down disapprovingly. 'Well I can't with Mr. and Ms. McGrouchy.'

Paulo assumed he meant Abbey and Sue. 'Oh, Why not?'

'Abbey's about as fun as he always is, and Sue's done nothing but sleep.'

Paulo turned to Stacy, 'Wow, really?'

She rolled her eyes, 'You'll find out when we get there.'

He turned back to David, 'What about Amaya? She's here, right?'

'She had to work.' Stacy noted.

'I suppose that means no dance partner for you then, Dave?'

David was stern, 'No, not that I want to dance with anyone else here either; none of them are as fun.'

'I'm sorry man, but you can have a different sort of fun.'

'Yeah, I'll let you know when I find them.' David said, before turning to the crowd and walking towards it. Paulo said nothing, he watched him disappear into the crowd.

'He looked pretty upset, will he be okay?' Stacy asked, worryingly.

'He probably expected things would go back to the way they used to be.' He shrugged, 'It's fine, I had a feeling this was going to happen. I'd been a couple of months since the last party and I think he's just a little upset that'd he'd end up being leashed this time since I'm with Sue. He'll come around soon once he gets sick of mingling.' He said, beneath a smile.

'So it's true, you are both dating?' Stacy asked.

'Nobody told you? Half the class found out in the first week. Though, I suppose everyone had guessed as much anyway.' He said.

'Oh, I heard about it too. I mean it's good you are. Come on, everyone's over here away from the main crowd.' She said leading on.

Paulo looked out to his side as he followed to a few of the people Katie had invited. He certainly couldn't recognise any of them. They certainly appeared a bit older. He wondered if most of them had been from any of he colleges or universities in the town over. They all looked like this was a regular thing for them.

'Nobody else is mingling with Katie's friends?'

'We're all not too sure about some of them.' Stacy replied.

Paulo didn't have to think too hard about whether they were birds from a feather, 'Fair enough.' And after a pause, 'What did you mean earlier when you asked whether Sue and I were dating.'

Stacy stopped and turned towards him, they stopped just short of the next room. She almost begged him, 'Please don't…' She couldn't finish it.

'Don't what?' Paulo asked, confused.

Stacy looked out to her side, 'Look, I don't want anything bad to happen to Sue. She's a lot happier now, and I—'

Paulo shook his head again. He didn't need to know where this was coming from, he had a faint idea already. 'I'm different now.'

'Are you?' She asked.

He nodded. 'Yeah.' Then after a second. 'At least I'm trying to be.'

Stacy carefully considered his answer. 'Come on, they're over here.' She said turning back to where they were going.

His heart quickened its pace. 'No, wait. Stace, hold up.' He called out. He waited until she looked back. 'I know I haven't had the best reputation in the past, but I am trying.'

'I believe you.'

'You'd be the second.'

As Paulo came beside her, she bought her hand up to his shoulder and kept it there. He looked down at her. 'I really do believe you.' Stacy said.

Paulo nodded. He didn't feel the need to say anything more about it.

The room they walked into was notably smaller than the other rooms and only half as extravagant, as if the room had been missed during its last renovation. It was like many of the other living rooms, with two sofas turned in towards each other with a small table between them, but this room had very little else; no other nick-nacks, vases or things that could go up against the wall. It certainly lacked in lavishness like the other rooms, but that ended up not bothering Paulo a single bit. He almost felt at home with how plain the room was. More importantly, the other party goers weren't coming into this room and bothering them.

He realised why; even within his own circle, there wasn't a party going on.

'They're in here.' Stacy said pointing in the room.

He couldn't help but grin as he approached them. He recognised the distinctiveness of the back of Abbey's head. But his attention went to Sue. There was a bit of wonder in him; she'd arrived in a nice gown. She'd made her make up more obvious and her hair had been done up.

And the way she was sleeping there was nothing different than sleeping beauty.

'Is she asleep?' He asked Stacy. 'I'm supposed to wake sleeping beauty like in the plays, right?'

'God, please don't.' He heard Abbey say behind him.

It came out very drunkenly, 'I'm not sleeping.' Sue said.

He turned to Stacy, still grinning, 'How long as she been like this?'

'She was fine until she hit the drinks just a few hours ago.'

'O—Oh!' He said with some surprise. He folded his arms and tried to look cross in the best way he could. But he couldn't. This situation was just too funny. 'You know you weren't supposed to start without me.'

'Sh…Shut up.' Sue said, 'It's just a headache.'

'You had something to eat, right?'

'Yes, mom.' She muttered, turning inward to the couch.'

Stacy moved over to her and shook her lightly on the shoulder. 'You really should sit up. You'll feel better soon.' She pulled Paulo over beside her and beckoned him to sit down. He complied, and Stacy helped Sue up and leant her off his shoulder.

'I wouldn't have believed it with my eyes until I saw it for myself.' Abbey said from his side of the room. His head resting off his hand.

'Funny to see you here by yourself.' Paulo said, 'Wouldn't have thought this would've been your jam'.

'It's not.' Abbey took a mouthful of his drink and finished it off before setting it aside. 'I got dragged along.'

'It might be better if that's your last one for a while.' Stacy said as she took the empty bottles around his feat.

'Yeah.' Abbey muttered.

It came off quite dick-ish, even to Stacy. Paulo was going to say something, but Stacy shook her head at him. 'It's okay. Now, what would you like?'

'I'll just take water for the moment. Two glasses, one for Sue.'

'You _can_ drink, you know.' Sue said.

'I have permission?' Paulo asked with some cheek.

She bought her fist up and lightly tapped it against his side. Her speech slurred. 'Dun get snippy wit me.'

He chuckled before turning to Stacy again, 'I'll get something else when I feel about right, I just wanna make sure Sue's alright.' He turned back towards Abbey who sat bemused. 'What?' Paulo asked.

'Absolutely nothing.' Abbey said, arms folded. 'Didn't think I'd see the day, that's all.'

'What's that supposed to mean?!' Paulo said, almost standing. But Sue pulled him back down.

'Can you both try to get along?' Sue asked them.

'Fat chance, pretty sure it'd be a cold place in hell before that happens.' Paulo said.

'From a lack of _trying_!' She shouted.

Paulo made a noise resembling a _tch_ and turned towards Abbey again. 'I heard you're been dating Jasmine since a while ago. Where's she?'

Abbey appeared a bit morose at the question. He pointed over towards the crowd, 'Over there somewhere. Wanted to find out what it's like in college.'

'Would've figured she'd be close by.' Paulo said.

'Yeah…' Abbey said, same as before to Stacy. To Paulo's amazement, he watched as Abbey drew a hand to the floor in front of him and retrieved another bottle, opened it and took a swig. Paulo didn't need to think too hard to put two and two together. Abbey was far too goodie-two-shoes to drink before he was of age, he was still seventeen. There was only one explanation.

'You fought with each other.' Paulo snickered, cracking the largest grin he could. Life was good.

Abbey shot back a glare. 'Yeah? What about it?'

'How bad did you blow it?' He couldn't wait to hear about it, but Abbey wasn't willing to share. They weren't close friends. Paulo didn't deserve the response. Instead, Abbey rose up from his seat and turned from them.

Sue rose her head off Paulo's leg, 'A…Abbey! Where are you going?' She called out.

'Bathroom.' He called back, showing little emotion.

'Are you feeling okay, Abbey?' She asked. 'Yer not sick either?'

'No.' Then he stopped. 'Actually…might be a few minutes in there. Enough time so you can have some alone time to make-out or whatever before I actually am sick.'

Paulo decided to chime in. 'You're going _with_ the beer bottle?'

'I'm going to dispose of it, you idiot.'

'You're sure you're not taking it with you to the bathroom for a refill?' Paulo smiled.

Abbey shot a glare over shoulder before turning forward and shaking his head as he continued towards the bathroom. Sue sighed next to him.

'Well, now that the bad news has gone, did you want to take him up on his suggestion?' Paulo asked, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. He didn't expect Sue's fist into his side again. It wasn't a tap this time either. She hit him, hard.

'Why tha' fuck do you have to be such an asshole!' She yelled at him.

He felt partially winded. It took him a moment to recover. 'Because he fucking assaulted me last year.' He shouted. 'He's a prick!'

She turned on the sofa towards him, 'You're a prick! You've always been a prick to him!'

'I have not!'

'Have too! Dun act like I haven't noticed!'

Paulo grumbled. 'So what if I was? He did a whole heap of shit to me last year and years before, and none of you guys did anything. He's a total fucking asshole.'

'Dun act like you didn't half deserve it back then either. You were just as much an asshole to him as he was back! Ya couldn't once learn when to leave him alone.' She put her head in her hands. 'Why does it always need to be like this? Well hardly agree most of the time but at least we try to get along? Surely you could too?'

'So, what? I should just forget everything that's already happened?'

'You did for me, diddin' you?' Sue asked.

'Abbey didn't come to my door during a snowstorm and confess to me!'

'An I only worked up the courage to try because I forgave everything first.' She shouted.

He was somewhere between outrage and fear. God, the idea was _fucking awful_. He wasn't going to forgive Abbey for shit. He bought his arm up to the arm rest and propped his head on it, he looked out towards the window and the snow falling outside.

'Couldn' you at least try?'

He looked down towards Sue and the pained expression on her face. His ears fell flat.

Sue laid her head against his arm 'Please? Can you at least try? Come on, I want a good night with friends. Please?'

'Why is it _I'm_ always the one who has to be the one to change?' Paulo sheepishly asked.

'Because you were the one who wanted to do things differently.' Sue replied sounding a little sleepish. 'An you come aroun' doin it in ways I love.'

Paulo looked down towards Sue again, and sighed. They didn't say anything to each other after that. Eventually Abbey returned a few short minutes after, not looking any better than he did when he disappeared. As he sat down opposite them again, Paulo noticed a different bottle in his hand, opened, already some of the contents missing. He breathed a sigh and looked back down towards Sue. She had her eyes closed, likely resting, or asleep.

Paulo swallowed, getting along with Abbey; a momentous task indeed.

'How many have you had so far?' He asked, pointing towards Abbey's bottle.

'Buzz off.'

 _Ahh, maybe shouldn't have started there._ Paulo realised.

'It's his forth.' Sue said, not quite asleep as he figured.

'Stop counting.' Abbey muttered.

'You need to stop.' Sue said sluggishly. 'Dun do a pity drink'

'I'll do what I want.' He muttered again, he took another long sip.

It had felt a bit jarring to see Abbey in such a state, and not to mention him drinking too. He was always so proper on the moral ladder. 'Fine, nevermind the drink. What happened between you and Jasmine.'

'Ask your girlfriend. She'll tell you. She's good at getting into other people's business.'

'Hey!' Sue shouted.

Paulo felt his blood boil from that but thought to use it to his own advantage; 'Can't disagree there, sorry Sue.' He snickered. He ignored the jab Sue made to his side. He stopped laughing and pointed towards Abbey, 'But, I asked you.'

'What makes you think I want to tell you?'

'Because you're dying to have someone help you and your problems, you wouldn't be here otherwise.'

'I didn't want to come. She dragged me here.'

'O—Oh, is that so?'

'He needed to talk to someone.' Sue said rubbing at her eyes. 'Otherwise he'd just stay at home and feel sorry for himself.' She reached over to the table and drank from the glass of water left for her. 'If you don't, I'll just tell him.'

'Don't! It's not his business.'

'You even just said I could!'

'That was sarcasm, clearly! Besides, what does he care? He's never cared about anything he couldn't stick his dick in!'

He wanted to get up. He was going to sock it to Abbey so fucking hard his head was going to spin. But even before his legs could respond, he felt Sue's hand press down on his leg. _Don't react to him_ , he thought she was telling him.

Except that it wasn't, Paulo had only noticed then when he looked down towards her, her face was red. She gripped down on his leg and her claws fed into his skin.

'What the FUCK was that, Abbey?' She shouted at him.

Paulo grabbed at her arm and tried to pry her off, 'Jesus! Ow, Sue!' He thought she was going to get up in that same moment, smash a glass, do _something_ , she looked furious. He looked over at Abbey, he looked frightened enough to consider bolting for the door. He'd never pissed off Sue before and this was something new to him too, Paulo suspected. He reached over and tapped her on the shoulder. 'Sue. It's probably better he's left alone for a bit.'

The anger appeared to drain from her, 'Nooooo…' Sue droned, 'I tried that once! He's needs to talk to someone.'

'I'm thinking maybe this was a bad idea Sue, he's really not going to talk.'

Abbey laughed. 'Never thought I'd see the day you'd be the not getting involved in someone else's drama.'

Paulo went to speak, but didn't. He knew he was referring to that time. HIs hand went up to the nape of his neck, he gave it a scratch. 'Yeah well. . . maybe I shouldn't've.'

'You should've known better.'

After a moment. 'You should've too.' Paulo said.

They both stood in that same second. Paulo expected Abbey was going to lunge. He'd throw down if he had to. But he found he couldn't, not with Sue climbed onto him at that same time.

'Dun fight!' Sue yelled, pulling him back down.

'Alright! Stop!' Paulo said.

Abbey sat down as well. 'You're lucky.'

Paulo shook his head, 'Whatever. You're drunk; just go home. Knowing Jasmine it probably isn't anything big anyway.'

'You have no idea, as usual.'

'Remember, I asked.'

By now, Sue had just about enough, she threw her arms up in the air. 'Augh! You both suck! Fine! Don't talk! At least give this stupid fighting a rest!'

There was finally silence. The party and the music was still going on in the other rooms.

The sigh came from Paulo. 'I'm so sick of this bullshit.' Paulo finally said. He saw Sue just about ready to do whatever she needed to stop them from fighting. But she wouldn't need to. Paulo breathed in, 'I'm sorry? Alright? Is that what you wanted?'

'I don't want your sorry.' Abbey said.

'Horseshit. You've always wanted it. For something, whatever.'

Abbey huffed an bought his leg up and over the other.

Paulo shook his head, he knew that wouldn't be enough to get him to spill his guts, but it was worth the shot for all that mattered. For once, he felt better about it. He tried; that's what mattered. It didn't go unnoticed as Sue nuzzle into his shoulder, at least someone was moderately happy with the effort. He turned his head and went back to watching the other random young adults bounce between rooms.

'She told me she needed a bit of space.' Abbey finally said, sulking. Paulo looked back to at him while he explained. 'I thought we were doing quite well, but then she started to change.'

Paulo had known they'd been going out since…well, he wasn't sure. They'd seemed reasonably close ever since he started hanging out at her lunch table, right after Abbey and Daisy pulled the plug for good. He had himself as being the catalyst for that, but it needed to happen. Paulo wasn't sure whether or not it was for the best reasons, but Abbey seemed a lot happier with Jasmine.

Until…well, recently it seemed. So, there was some surprise in Paulo when he said it. 'How long ago did this start happening, and changed in what way?' He asked.

'Maybe a couple of weeks ago?' Abbey sulked. 'As for changed.' He twisted his fist so his thumb poked out to the side back into the crowd, and Paulo's head turned to follow it. But Jasmine wasn't there, or at least, the Jasmine he recognised.

'Bullshit.' Was all that came out of Paulo's mouth.

But there she was. He couldn't mistake the distinct black and white furred figure across the room. Although, something was different. Then he realised, she no longer had her white hair. It was black. And her dress, Paulo gulped, was a little more provocative than the conservative norm she normally wore.

'Since when?' Paulo said turning back, 'Really? Just a few weeks ago?' He pressed.

'Something happened between her and her parents.' Sue said from his side. 'Now she's—'

'A rebellious phase?' Paulo finished, almost smirking in her direction. 'She certainly looks ni—' He jutted in the opposite direction when Sue's elbow drove itself into his side.

'Who. Is. Your. Girlfriend?' She seethed.

'Jesus, you are, okay? I'm just saying she looks…' he looked back over in her direction, 'Nice. I suppose.' He turned back towards Abbey. 'I'm assuming that's not the only change?'

Abbey shook his head, 'And the rest. Stopped going to church, not that I minded.' He drew his hand across his nose and sniffled into it. 'But then she told me she was just going to wing school…and then we…'

Paulo breathed a sigh, it didn't take a lot of effort to try and assume what had happened after that point; they fought. Abbey was arrogant in one way but Jasmine was also aggressive in hers. He'd known all too well.

'Alright. So, when did she tell you she wanted to see other people?'

'Just a few days ago. Didn't think she meant she was going to do it here.'

'Wait, you _didn't know_ she was going to be here?'

'Stacy ran into Jasmine when she was handing out the invitations and thought they'd come together.' Sue said.

Abbey choked, 'She didn't even tell me about it.'

'You were ditched? Hang on, how on earth did you get in then? The bouncer stopped me even when I had mine.'

There was a silence between them. Paulo turned his head back between them. Then he realised. It prompted him to burst out in laughter.

'Holy shit, you mean you both came together as a couple?!'

They both blushed. Paulo turned to Sue and prodded her with a finger. 'Hun, just checking, but who's your boyfriend?'

'Geddof' Sue said pushing him.

'Is the shoe on the other foot?'

'I did it as a favour!' Sue shouted, 'Abbey needed to come to the party. Don't act like it was the same — _You_ were leering.'

Paulo appeared hurt, 'Was not.'

'I saw how you were looking at her. The jaw dropping kind of gave it away.'

'She doesn't even resemble what she used to look like! That's all it was, how couldn't I otherwise.' He said, rising a little from the couch and glancing over to Jasmine again. 'Don't tell me you're jealous.'

'I am not!'

Stacy finally arrived with the drinks and set them down on the table between them. 'Sorry about taking so long, it's certainly crowded out there.' Stacy said. 'Are you all getting along?' She eyed Paulo and Abbey.

'About as well as we normally are.' Paulo said amidst a smile. 'And yes, we already spoke about it.' He rose from the seat, 'Here, take Sue for a little bit.' Stacy moved over and sat in his place, letting Sue rest on her. He took one of the glasses of water Stacy arrived with and downed it before walked away towards the crowd.

'Where are you going?' Sue asked.

He scratched his chin, 'Figure I might as well talk to the ex and try to find out what's going on.'

'What? No!' Abbey called out.

'What'd'ya mean no? It'll be fine, trust me.' He turned towards where Jasmine had once was and disappeared into the next room.

Abbey rose to his feet. His heart was beginning to race. He wouldn't dare leave it to Paulo. Not a chance in hell. It was when Sue called to Abbey, he stopped and tuned his head towards her. He shook his head, 'I can't let him.'

'Let him try.' Sue said. She opened her eyes and noticed the two headache pills Stacy had retrieved for her, she downed them both with the water.

Abbey turned his head back towards where Paulo disappeared. Then back to Sue, and turned back towards his seat. Stacy sat next to him and patted his shoulder. He bought his hands to his head and for the first time in his life, hoping that Paulo could get to the bottom of it.

* * *

Paulo headed towards the direction of the real party. By now Jasmine had moved on deeper into the gathering. He found her again talking to other guests. He planned to wait and catch her when she wasn't so busy, but he suspected she saw him out the corner of her eye and ran to the nearest person. He wasn't positive whether that was the case, but it certainly felt like it.

A set of hands appeared and wrapped themselves around him from behind. It wasn't pulling him away desperately, so it wasn't Abbey. It was far more gentle, so he made an assumption on who it was.

'Dude! None of these guys are fun!' David sobbed over his shoulder.

'Yeah, this is turning out to be a pretty shitty party already.' Paulo admitted looking back over his shoulder. 'Maybe you ought to go back with Sue and the others.'

'Yeah. They're more fun than these losers!' David yelled. Nobody noticed.

'What's the problem anyway?'

'They're all so boring! And I thought there couldn't have been anyone as boring as Abbey!'

Paulo wasn't too sure that was exactly what the problem was, but it appeared that even the largest party-goer between all of his friends had felt there was just too much of a problem. Paulo felt David's tremendous grip let go of him. As David turned in the direction from where Paulo came, he had an idea. He grabbed onto David's arm, 'Before you go back, wanna do me a favour?' Paulo asked.

David's eyes shone like the sun.

* * *

Since she arrived, Jasmine had spent the majority of her time there mingling with the randoms that Katie had invited. There was some surprise in that most of them had working lives outside of the school, many were enrolled in colleges or universities, almost making Katie nearly the baby of the group. Where Katie had made such friends was a huge wonder given that she only had Stacy herself at the school. She'd spoken to at least forty of them in the past hour and that was only from the room adjacent, each one of them a bro or a friend to another, until one got too drunk and threw down on one of the others. It happened much earlier over a girl but was mostly constrained outside. Nobody else paid much attention as if it was just something that happened. She didn't want to admit it was likely because they both wanted to talk to her, but something inside of her wasn't thrilled with the idea it started because of her. She could have put a stop to it, but she didn't. The good Christian she used to be was no more. There was no need, let the boys sort them out. She often needed to remind herself who she was now.

For now, she'd grown bored talking to the two boys in front of her. Work-life talk was great but once the chat lead into vehicles she felt she needed to tune out, and she did, listening passively and nodded her head at the end of each sentence. When one of them tried to put an arm around her, she ducked it and excused herself. Before she could leave a hand reached over and grabbed hers, well now she really wasn't going to leave. She could scream, but would that start a fight? Fine, she'll just struggle and yell at them.

But she needn't to. Someone rose up from behind them to his full height. She couldn't believe it; he must have crawled on the floor for her not to have noticed earlier. He lumbered over them and wrapped his arms around the shoulders of each of them. She recognised David almost immediately.

'Hey, guys, I've got something pretty awesome to show you, come over here.' He told them. They two young-adults tried to break away from him, but David was much too strong, and pulled them backwards, until they disappeared into the crowd.

And to god knows where.

'Enjoying the party?' She heard behind her. She recognised the voice too, and felt conflicted by it. She couldn't decide whether she was happy for the break from the jocks, or from the jocks she used to date. She entertained the notion.

'Paulo. Fancy seeing you here.' She said behind a smile.

'Would you believe I got dragged to this party?' He lied, but Jasmine seemed to have taken it in. He took the chance to look her over, he found it impossible not to, her choice of attire was certainly interesting given the season; never-mind it was a cool evening in the middle of winter; Jasmine wore what someone who was crazy or at least was desperate to get picked up. The look resembled the same sort of things the goth kids at the school would wear, but this went a distance further. The black leather top she wore was tight, it hugged against her and expressed her cleavage the best it could. The matching skirt too was black, with blue frilly highlights. It hugged into her in much the same way, or at least looked like it; Paulo suspected it was a size too small. It only just met half-way down her leg, nowhere near the knee, any wrong move in any direction and you'd see a lot more of her.

And it was wrong; certainly not the Jasmine he knew before. Her clothing was nothing less than provocative. Rachel had been called a slut before, Jasmine was trying to look the part. To his own chagrin, the old part of him was going wild, the other, relented and became overcome with worry. He hid it the best he could. 'Nice look; trying something new?' He asked.

'Sure am, do you like it?' She said, she gave a little twirl. Paulo managed to blink at the right time, he saw nothing to some relief, although guessing from some of the reactions from the people around them; they hadn't. A part of him cursed his bad luck, he tried to ignore that part.

Paulo pretended to look her over, 'Can't say I don't. Only a shame you weren't like that when we were dating.'

Jasmine smiled, 'Well, we could start again.' She teased.

'For real?' Paulo asked, appearing eager at the suggestion. 'Oh, but hang on.' He cupped a hand to his chin, 'Don't you have a boyfriend? Aren't you seeing Abbey?'

'Don't _you_ have a girlfriend?' She asked. 'I heard you were dating Sue now.'

'I do, and am.' He folded his arms. 'Are you or aren't you dating Abbey?'

She shrugged. He figured that was a sign there was still hope yet.

'Then what's with all of this?' He asked, he lightly gestured towards her clothes.

'Maybe I wanted to come like this?'

'It's freezing outside. The heating's sure nice but aren't you feeling the least bit chilly?'

Jasmine smirked and stepped forward, bringing her hands onto Paulo's chest before trying to bring herself up towards his ears. 'We can always find a place to warm up?' She cooed.

His hands rose up to her shoulders much like hers had to his, but instead of holding on there was a small push, and Jasmine was forced away. She appeared confused. Paulo on the other hand was wide eyed, a little bit of shock and a little bit of disbelief.

He finally asked, 'What are you doing?'

'What do you mean 'what am I even doing?' I'm having fun.'

'Chatting up every boy you see? What's gotten into you, your boyfriend is in the other room crying his heart out because he can't figure out what's gotten into you.'

Her jaw dropped. The audacity of Paulo pointing this out to her was just infuriating. 'When did you suddenly start to care? You used to flirt with women all the time while we were dating too! Is this all you came over to ask about?'

'I'd loved to have caught up, everyone's only in the other room. I just didn't expect to need to babysit some crybaby in the other room who's had his heart broken and his girlfriend is doing this.'

Jasmine laughed. 'All I'm doing is talking to people.'

'Is that only it? You were getting pretty close onto me before. Pretty sure your boyfriend deserves an explanation.'

Jasmine sighed and folded her arms 'Come on, I wasn't going to go through with it.' She read Paulo's face. He couldn't help but feel sceptical. 'Oh, fuck off, Paulo. What would you know?' She turned to leave but found herself being spun around to face Paulo again. He held onto her arm.

'Enough to know this shit isn't you and its hurting others!' He barked.

'Like back when you dumped me for that bimbo?!' She barked back.

'Are you really bringing _that_ up? That was…complicated!'

'Having someone all over you is not complicated!'

'She wasn't even the one I broke up with you over.'

'And that makes it worse!'

'I didn't even want her all over me in the first place! I just let it happen; Lucy moved.' He complained. 'I'm sorry, alright?! I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, but for crying out loud just think about what Abbey's feeling.'

The confrontation between them was broken up for a moment when Paulo felt a sudden pain in the left side of his face. He didn't see Jasmine in front of him at that moment, instead he found himself acquainted with the mansion floor for a brief moment, he bounced off it and landed in a heap again.

It wasn't from Jasmine, he knew that much. She didn't move in the last few milliseconds between staring at her and finding himself crashing hard onto his side and bounced off the floor. She wasn't large enough to send him flying. His ear started to scream from the pain. He could barely make out the screams and gasps from the people around him. He was dazed, he couldn't find the strength to stand, but had enough to find enough to see who at least hit him. . .only not to recognise them; they were taller than any of the friends he knew, maybe the same size as David, but it wasn't him. Hell, he couldn't even tell what species they were. The best he could summise was they must have been one of Katie's friends.

'Was he hurting you?' The guest asked her. Jasmine's mouth opened but no sounds came out, too stunned to say anything.

'Jesus Christ, Zack! He wasn't doing 'nuffin'!' A girl from the crowd yelled at him.

'I know what I saw.'

Paulo's head pounded as he stood to his feet. He sized up his assailant. He grumbled 'Motherfucker', loud enough for them to hear. That set him off; another fist came at Paulo's direction. It missed when Paulo staggered to the side. The assailant too staggered before lining up another throw. It didn't give Paulo much time to think, time to do anything. The next fist just grazed him and he stepped back again. He cursed his rotten luck. There wasn't single time he wanted to find himself at the receiving end of a throw. It reminded him too much of that one time. He had no time to think of it, the fist that moved in his direction wouldn't give him the time. He'd been in a fight before. Been in several, but he'd never won any. He couldn't step fast enough. He caught it in the face. He staggered backwards and caught a glimpse of Jasmine in shock on the way down. He felt what he thought was the last of his consciousness slip away.

At least he thought it was. His foot reached back and found the floor, it kept him up. The pain across his face felt familiar. It drew back memories in the split-second that was allowed before the other guy came at him again. It hurt. He didn't want to hurt again.

And he snapped.

He bat the incoming fist away with his hand, and returned with his own into the eye socket of the other. The other guy yelled out in pain and recoiled, bringing a hand up to it. But didn't stop there, Paulo followed with another square into his face, he pulled it back and hit him again with such frightening speed. He never knew he had it in him. The other man crashed backwards onto the floor. But that wasn't going to stop Paulo. He went over, and drew his fist back again.

But this time something caught it; grabbed onto his arm. He was about to let that person have it too, he almost did when he twisted his body and his head, and recognised Abbey. 'Stop!' Abbey yelled 'That's enough! He's not getting back up!'

The irony provoked him. Paulo turned back towards the person who assaulted him for a moment he was on his side, moaning in agony. He'd thought he'd be elated from winning his first fight, but instead there was worry. The adrenalin was starting to wear down. The rage evaporated. And Paulo was back to who he used to be. A tear escaped his eye. 'I…' Paulo tried to breathe. 'He attacked me. I didn't even—'

Abbey grabbed onto his side. Just in time as Paulo felt the strength is his legs give. He felt someone come in from the other side, that turned out to be from Stacy.

'Abbey.' She called out.

Paulo turned to her, 'I….I didn't—'

'It's alright, come on.' Stacy told him.

They guided him through the crowd and took him into the kitchen.


	25. Battered Hearts (Part I)

**Author: It's been an atrocious month. This chapter is long so it's split into two parts. I'll be re-reviewing and uploading the second part tomorrow.**

They'd isolated a corner of the busy room to themselves. Paulo had his eyes closed for most of it; the pain across his head was excruciating; it throbbed, and it got so bad he felt at times he was going to faint. He felt nauseous, and shut them tighter. He didn't feel he could do anything, just focus on the pain and do his best to deal with it the best he could. It stopped hurting after a while, and he opened them again, and then he started to make sense of his surroundings. He found himself on a bar stool. Abbey stood by, idly and close to him, keeping his attention on the doorway from where they came and staring at it pensively; on his guard as if he was expecting someone to follow through them. He didn't see Stacy, until he heard what sounded like pots and pans falling over in cupboards, it prompted him to look in that direction. She had crouched down looking into a cupboard on the far side of the room, frantically looking for something. But she wasn't having much luck.

Paulo bought a hand up to the side of his head before bringing it back down in front of him. He saw the blood. Things started making more sense now. He put his hand back there and held it there, if not to try to stop the bleeding, but to at least try and soothe his aching head.

'It's in here somewhere.' He heard from where Stacy searched.

'Are you sure there's a first aid box here?'

'There has to be! Can you look in the boxes over there?'

'Alright!'

He looked around. Right; the kitchen. He couldn't help but wonder why they'd decided to stop here instead of a bathroom. The place was a mansion, there were so many other rooms to offer; ones which weren't busy with servants coming and going with hot food and delicacies that provoked his appetite. There was a reason, he just didn't know what it was.

Out the corner of his vision he spotted a tall man approaching them. He looked different to the others, more. . . important? Paulo wondered. There was an air of seniority over him? Yeah, it'd be him. Maybe the head chef. He had the face to match, one not to be trifled with and it screamed you're not supposed to be here, to him. You're in my domain.

Not that we want to be here. Paulo casually told himself.

Why are we here? He wondered again.

He'd learn no time at all. He wasn't the only to spot the man as he approached. Stacy appeared to have expected him. She shot up from where she was and quickly made her way over to intercept him. She'd hoped he'd recognise her from before. But he didn't; much too busy. It didn't deter her from wasting any time explaining as best she could about the situation.

A sharp piercing feeling went through his head, and he winced from it. It really hurt. He really couldn't be any use to them if something was going on.

And then he felt dread. The fight just now. He won, right? What happened to the other guy?

Are they safe?

Why are they in the fucking kitchen?!

He pushed harder with his palm. His head hurt!

Protection. Had to be, he wondered. There were a lot of cooks and servers here, a lot of adults. For all he knew, he couldn't tell if the bouncer was out there doing his job; cleaning up what remained of the drunken assailant who had decided to play hero and sending him on his way home. What if he wasn't doing his job, and the idiot was still there on the carpet? Maybe getting up, ready for another go? There were plenty of adults here that could watch over them. But as Paulo looked around at the other chefs in the room with, he had doubts. He wasn't sure whether any of them could put up a fight against someone that tall looking for revenge. Or worse; if his friends were to follow them, seeking retribution.

His attention moved back to the head chef while Stacy pleaded her case. Paulo swore for a moment it was as if he was going to lose it, the head chef's face screamed death. But then it softened. Paulo breathed a deep breath of relief, he'd gotten over it.

It would be unknown to any of them, there wasn't a single thing the head chef could do to stop them anyway. Not a single thing – he couldn't waste any more time. He was short-staffed, overworked, and the food was late. The night wasn't going to plan as it was; he'd already wasted too much time on the kids. He had to get back to work in preparing the food, or Katie — his employer would find someone else. That would be guaranteed, and finding work was already getting hard enough in this economy. The last thing he wanted was wasted time. He told them to keep to themselves. Not to touch the food, cutlery, and to clear out as soon as they could. He snapped his fingers and shouted his orders to the servants, the cooks as well. They lined up, and grabbed the food from the waiting table. Then they marched out the door in a single file. Leaving the kids in the room alone.

He looked towards Stacy, who appeared just as confused as she turned back to face them. She shrugged. He returned the shrug. Abbey did too. It appeared that was all for nothing.

If worse came to worse, Paulo considered — a room full of sharp objects might deter anyone more persistent assailants.

Ahh, he wondered if that was the real reason they'd stopped here.

He really hoped it wouldn't come to that, if the choice was somehow available.

His headache was getting worse. He thought he was told not to move from the bar stool, but he wanted to. And really, he just wanted to go home and sleep it all off.

They wouldn't let him. Stacy had located the first aid kit. She started taking out all the creams and bandages. Abbey moved over towards her and looked at them too. They looked back towards Paulo.

'So, bandages or icepacks?' She asked Abbey.

'Icepacks.' Abbey said. 'I'll check the freezer. You can patch up our victim here.'

Paulo thought about that. He was the victim, wasn't he?

For some reason, a part of him felt he had a problem with that.

Stacy tried moving forward to clean up the blood from the bumps and scrape for a fourth time, but it was becoming impossible – Paulo just wasn't willing to cooperate with them. Every time she tried to get close Paulo had managed to managed to keep her at bay knocking whatever she held out of her hand.

Abbey had long since given up. He stood back and folded his arms in resignation and simply decided to watch with a stern expression across his face. He'd tried his best, but he'd already grown too frustrated with Paulo's arrogance to even grace the idea of trying to help again. He'd known Paulo for his difficulty over the years, but this was taking the cake.

Paulo sat in the corner of the room on the bar stool. He never left it — *couldn't* leave it — he had no strength in his legs. Every time he tried to summon energy to them, he gave up immediately after. So he did whatever else he could. He still held onto the side of his face with one of his hands; he never moved it from before. His other did its best to try and stave off his friends from doing what they could with bandages and ice packs.

He just didn't need the help.

'Look, I'm fine, just leave me alone!' Paulo tried to reassure them. He tried to get up again, but like before; the he just couldn't. He swiped at the air with his free hand to bat the cream out of Stacy's hand. He managed, but she was quick enough to catch it before it hit the floor.

'Stop being so stupid! You're hurt!' Stacy begged. 'Why are you doing this?'

'Look, just leave me alone!' Paulo begged.

Abbey rolled his eyes and shook his head. 'What is wrong with you? We're trying to help!' He shouted.

'Screw you!' Was all that came back.

Abbey seethed. He gave a very aggravated sigh, but that did nothing to stop his blood from boiling. This tough-guy attitude was wearing thin off him. He contemplated knocking Paulo over and pinning him to the floor if it would help them along with hurrying it up and getting it done. Although the idea thrilled him inside, it stayed there. He saw no benefit in upsetting Stacy or Sue.

Paulo manage to hit out at Stacy's hand again. This time the cream went in the opposite direction and straight into Abbey's face. He caught it as it rebound, his hand had already tried to use it as a stress ball. 'That does it!'

'Abbey! No!' Stacy shouted.

Abbey didn't listen. Too furious to care. His face didn't mask it either. He was sick and tired of tonight. He was sick of the games his girlfriend played with him, he didn't want his friends to *help* him, and he hated the way this. . . this. . .*child* was acting. He stamped forward. The idea from before was certainly in the cards now. Never-mind what his friends thought. He just wanted this night to be over.

But it wouldn't be like that; he expected Paulo to cower, maybe a reminder of that time in the bathroom that one time a year ago. But he didn't; Paulo looked more agitated than he did before. And Abbey stopped in surprise of that fact.

'If you think it'll be just like back then, you've got another thing coming!' Paulo shouted, his hand made a fist.

Abbey unballed his fists. It wasn't the reaction he'd been expecting, but it was a good enough distraction for Stacy. She leaped in and started to try and smother some of the antiseptic cream over parts of Paulo's face. It was when Paulo shoved her with his free hand, Abbey made a move and grabbed ahold of it. Paulo tried to pull it back, but Abbey's grip was far too strong.

'Let. . .me . . . go!' Paulo struggled.

Stacy moved in again and did her best to clean up Paulo with a cloth with the up-most precision. There was some relief; the main scratch she had been worried about didn't look too bad. She turned her head to Abbey. 'Icepack.' She said.

'Got it.' Abbey said. He slammed the icepack into Paulo's eye.

'ABBEY!'

'He's being a prick! What kind of a child acts like this when people are trying to help him?'

'Fuck you!' Paulo shouted.

'You're fucking getting off on this, aren't you? Is one woman all over you not enough?'

'What the fuck are you talking about?!'

Stacy moved up and stood between them. 'Just calm down you two!' She turned to Paulo, 'It wasn't your fault, we all saw it, so stop it already! Please let us help, you're hurt and you're bleeding.'

Paulo looked up at her. He felt miserable. It took him a moment to put his pride away for good. He felt short of breath, like he was being squeezed. 'Alright. . . alright, fine.' He said after a second.

'Finally.' Abbey muttered.

'Look here then.' Stacy said again to him. She looked over him. Ah, there was a spot she missed. She squeezed more gel out of the tube and nudged his other hand. It left the side of his head, granting her access, and she started to clean up what she could. It was much better like this; without Paulo acting like a kid. Although, Stacy started to consider that maybe there was one other factor in this that was also contributing. Her hand went to Sue's shoulder. She gave it a squeeze. 'Sue, you're going to have to let go of him and move, I can't get in and around while you're like that.'

Sue didn't listen; she kept her arms wrapped around his sides and sobbed into his stomach. Paulo had only cared to notice now. No wonder he felt short of breath. It would also explain why he couldn't find the strength to get away from them; Sue was squeezing so hard he couldn't even feel his feat.

Abbey's face contorted. He felt like he was going to vomit. He pointed towards her, 'Can't you at least deal with that yourself?' He asked him.

Paulo glared back disapprovingly, Abbey commanding him wasn't something he needed. He turned back to Sue and felt his heart soften. He'd already moved the hand nursing his head over and across her back in a hug. 'Come on, you can let go now. I'm alright.'

'Are you really, though?' Abbey asked folding his arms. 'You got knocked around pretty hard.'

He didn't want to answer Abbey just on principle, but as soon as his eyes met with Stacy, he felt the walls of Jericho that protecting his feelings crashing down. 'I—I don't know? All I know is I've got a fucking headache. And my ears are still ringing.' Paulo said. 'Do you have any idea who the hell that was?' He asked, looking towards Stacy again.

'That was one of Katie's friends.' Stacy answered bitterly. 'He's a total asshole. Boxes.'

Paulo's jaw dropped. 'You're kidding me, he boxes?!'

Stacy nodded, her expression filled with guilt and frustration, 'I knew something like this was going to happen! It's why I begged for a place far away from all of them.'

'Stacy it's not—' Abbey tried to say.

'Come on Stace, nobody could've seen that all coming. It's fine.' Paulo interrupted, trying to sound reassuring again.

A small smile stretched across her face, but she shook her head. 'I appreciate it guys. But, you still got hurt.'

'I'm fine.' Paulo said again. He made a pained face as Sue squeezed into him hard, this time purpose; she'd had enough.

'No, you're not!' Sue said, now standing in front of him. 'We even heard it from where we sat; you can't be.'

'I told you I'm fine.' Paulo said before he smiled, trying his best to be seemingly reassuring, until he winced in pain; adrenaline wasn't pumping through his blood anymore, and his pulsing headache was now getting to him.

'You could have died.' Choked Sue.

He couldn't look at her when the thought entered his head, a part of him felt the need to agree; 'Yeah.' He sighed, 'suppose there was a chance of that. . .' He said. He looked back up at her. He felt his heart drop; she looked miserable, as if she could've lost something irreplaceable. He shared the feeling. The thought had crossed his mind when he picked himself up from the floor. It was only down to a miracle that his assailant had been a mad drinker. It could've been a lot worse. It began to set in on him. He could have died. That was the realisation. His hands started to shiver along with his mouth as the memories of that moment and years before came back to him. He could do nothing back then. He only just managed before. 'Fuck' He spluttered. 'I just got fucking jumped out of nowhere. It was awful.'

Stacy and Abbey looked at each other for a moment. 'Well…' Stacy started, 'Let's just be happy you got away with what you got.'

Abbey winced, he wasn't ready for Stacy's elbow into his side. 'Ow! Alright. I was going to say the same thing!' He protested. He turned back to Paulo, 'Seriously, it wouldn't have been good to have someone lose their life at a party.'

Paulo's eyes flickered, there was some disbelief in his words; 'Are. . .are you saying you care about me?' He asked. He was being a shit. Deliberately, and paid for it — Sue grabbed onto his shoulder. 'Ow…Ow! I get it, stop! It was a joke!' He begged.

Sue glared at him when she released him.

Paulo sighed and looked back towards Abbey. 'Sorry, and thanks. . .' he struggled with the rest, 'for looking out for me and running over when you could — the two of you.'

They heard the door swing open. Abbey spun around to meet them. 'If you've got a fucking problem-.' He started, but then stopped. He recognised David.

David held his hands up in front of him. 'Is buddy okay?' He asked.

'I'm fine.' Paulo said.

'Where were you all this time?' Sue asked, curiously.

'Oh, he was going something for me.' Paulo said to her, 'I asked him to distract some guys.' He turned to David. 'Where did you go anyway?'

'Oh! Took them outside and told them there was another better party a little further across the opposite side of the yard.' David told them.

Paulo blinked. 'They actually fell for it?'

'Uh. . .sure did.' David said, somewhere between a smile and a pained grimace. 'I told them there would be a beacon to light their way.'

Paulo glanced towards Stacy, who appeared just as confused as he was, before turning back to David. 'What beacon?' He asked.

'The one I made using a portable light earlier when the party was starting. Katie's dad's got a surprising number of extension cords in his shed.'

'You went into the s _hed_?' Stacy asked in disbelief. 'Is that where you were for the last few hours?'

David looked at her like he'd only explained the plan for the thirtieth time; 'The party was boring! And everyone here was being such a depressing baby! So, I went outside and made a little party area, for us!'

'You did WHAT?'

David turned to Sue. 'I did it for us! I swear! This party was so unfun and I decided to make another outside near the big tree with things I found in a shed! I found floor panels, lights, extra balloons and even a place to hang the donkey.'

Sue looked at him blankly and shook her head. 'I didn't say anything.' she told him. 'I've completely given up on everything there is to do about you.'

David appeared confused. 'Oh. . .Then who—'

Paulo had only just noticed then that Katie had snuck in from the opposite room and joined them. They'd all been so preoccupied with David they didn't hear her come in, and that was something amazing, because Katie simply looked stunning. But then he noticed something else that became his biggest concern. She didn't make an effort to mask that she looked positively pissed off at something. She'd heard everything.

She walked up to David, and standing in front of him threw them down in front of him. 'I can't believe you were, like, in my father's shed!' She yelled. 'You ought to leave!' She turned to the others. 'And which one of you's beat up Zack?'

After a small silence, Paulo was about to raise his hand, until Stacy caught it and shook her head.

'Who cares about Zack? He only came because Jennifer was here — he attacked Paulo first.' She said.

'He, like, told me a different story.'

'Did you ask anyone else who saw it? The entire room saw.' Stacy argued.

'I was only talking to Jasmine. He came out of nowhere.' Paulo said, trying to explain his side of the story..

Katie considered it for a very short second. Then completely disregarded it. 'I still have to explain to my father why there are *bloodstains* all over the carpet.'

'We could use baking soda.' David suggested.

'Baking soda? To what? Like, bake a cake? That's for cooking! Not for cleaning!' Katie yelled, 'And I don't cook! Why are you still here? I told you to leave! You can pay for the cleaning too!'

Paulo couldn't help but feel for David was worry spread across his face. He knew about as well as Paulo did; that cleaning bill wouldn't be for getting cleaners in, it would be for the whole carpet replacement.

'You're thinking of Baking *Powder* Katie. Baking Soda can be used as a cleaning agent.' Stacy said. 'Dave's not wrong.'

Katie's jaw dropped, 'Oh my gawd, you're not joining the nerd squad too, are you?'

Stacy blushed, 'N—No! I mean I've used it before to clean up makeup off the carpet!'

Katie didn't appear convinced.

Paulo ummed, 'Everyone knows this, Katie. I've had to use it a couple of times when I accidentally kicked some unempty bottles at home.'

She stared at him, visibly seconds from completely losing it. 'Shut up, you ought to leave too, Troublemaker.'

'Why should he leave?! It was that Bully!' Sue argued.

'I don't care! You should all leave! The party's over anyway!'

'Why's the party over?' Abbey asked.

'Because I said so!' She shouted. 'Everyone's gone outside anyway.' She turned and glared at David, she pushed it through her teeth; 'Because they're all playing pin the tail on the Donkey or something.'

David said nothing, he only gave a worried smile.

'So, like, yeah! The party's over. Call your parents and have them pick you up. I don't want to see any of you here in the next half hour!' She shouted at them. She turned back towards the door and pushed her way through, screeching to herself. They could barely make out the last thing she said as the door swung back to where it was. 'What a disaster!'

They all looked at each other silently. This had all been nothing short of a disaster, for all of them.

Paulo was the first to try and crack the ice. 'Well, that happened.' He sighed.

David groaned, 'Oh, man. I'm going to get hit big.' He worried.

'Yeah dude.' Paulo mused, 'Knowing Katie, she'll probably replace the whole carpet.' He gave a worried laugh along with it.

Stacy rest a hand against David's shoulder. 'It's okay David, I'll talk to her once she's calmed down. She'll probably forget by the end of the night.'

David didn't look any better.

'She's right Dave. Don't worry about it. If anything she'll probably try to put it on me.' Paulo shrugged.

'I won't let that happen!' Stacy shouted. She slammed the lid of the first aid box down. Visibly frustrated for them all to see. 'This is all Katie's fault! She should've just invited everyone in our year instead of getting her stupid college friends.'

Sue thought to ask, 'Why *did* she invite them?'

Stacy didn't say anything for a moment. She stayed hung over the first aid box. 'They weren't. . .originally.'

Sue blinked, 'Come again?'

'Because nobody else replied to the RSVP.'

Paulo couldn't help but nod to it. He had a feeling it would've been like that. Katie had done an excellent job over the last few years isolating herself from many of the kids at school. Her bank account could only be matched in her snobbery, and she was well known for that. The story Daisy told him back when they started highschool made him ensure he'd never hang out with a girl like that.

Shit, he knew it was going to be like this.

Stacy put the first aid box back where she got it from. She turned and walked back to them. 'I'm going to go outside and see what's happened. Will you guys be right staying here until I get back?'

'Yeah.' Paulo said. 'Don't think we'll go anywhere.' He looked over to Sue, and then he noticed it; The bloody red mark on the back on Sue's lovely dress.

Sue had thought to look back towards him and caught him looking at her at that same time. 'What's wrong?'

'My blood's all over the place.'

'Yeah. . . well. . .' Sue held her arms open and showed him her front; much of the same, the blood that ran down Paulo's face had found itself on the front as well.

Paulo felt awful. It was a nice dress too.

Stacy tugged on Sue's top. 'You should come with me, we'll get you cleaned up and we should see what we can get for that stomach ache of yours.'

Sue nodded to her before turning to Paulo again, 'Are you sure you're okay?'

He nodded. 'I'll be fine. I'll still be around by the time you get back' He smiled.

Sue coughed and wiped at her eye, her make up went along with it. She moved in and gave him a tight hug before moving with Stacy out the door. She looked back one final time looking miserable before the door moved back into position.

He gave a deep sigh. This party was going worse by the minute.

He jumped when the sound of a pot falling from the counter rang throughout the kitchen. Both he and Abbey turned towards the noise. David pulled what appeared to be a plastic container from the cupboard.

'David, didn't Katie tell you off enough about going through her house?' Abbey asked.

'Yeah.' David said, 'But I don't think I could afford the bill to replace the carpet.'

Paulo shook his head, 'Stacy's going to talk to her about it. Don't worry. I'm sure more than a few of them have already spilt something on her floors.'

'Maybe.' David said, thinking the same thing, 'I'm gonna try though. I'll be back soon.'

Paulo and Abbey sighed as David made his way through the door. Paulo looked over at Abbey. 'You're not going to follow them?' Paulo asked.

'No, figured you could use the company for a bit.'

'You mean protection, right?' Paulo grinned.

'Company.' Abbey confirmed. 'Wouldn't want to think Sue wants you to get hurt again.'

'Yeaaaah.' Paulo painfully agreed. 'Well, rest assured, I'm sure as hell not going out that door.'

'I wouldn't blame you.'

Paulo gave a short laugh. 'Some party.'

Abbey nodded, 'You said it.'

Awkward. Cringy. It was killing him inside; forget the wounds from earlier; this small talk was atrocious. He needed something to break the ice again. 'If you're interested. I did end up talking to Jasmine for a bit.'

For a moment, there was life coming from Abbey, 'And?'

Paulo had started to have second thoughts. He shook his head, 'Well, before numb-nuts hit me, I think I was getting close.' He shrugged. He tried to recall what she told him, then realised why he had the second thoughts; he found nothing in what she told him. Just more questions he had instead. 'Sorry, actually. There wasn't anything. Figured she'd open up to me at least once but I suppose I'm just an 'Ex' now.'

'Oh.' Abbey replied. Looking disappointed 'Well…thanks for trying. I. . .suppose that's it then.'

'Sorry.' Paulo said.

'It's fine. I…You know, I suppose this could mean we have something else in common.'

Paulo had to think, 'Oh, yeah I suppose we do.' He laughed.

Abbey laughed as well, but it trailed off in time, and he resumed carrying his worried expression from earlier that night.

Their attention drifted back to the kitchen door as they heard it creak open again. They half expected David, coming back from his cleanup operation. But it wasn't him. It wasn't Sue or Stacy either, or even Katie looking for round two of the blame-game. Abbey's eyes opened wider as he realised who it was. Paulo had recognised her too; Jasmine's black and white markings were unmistakable.


	26. Battered Hearts (Part II)

'So this is where all you guys went.' She said from the doorway, 'Are you okay?! I was worried!'

Paulo turned to Abbey quick enough to catch him in the process of the largest gulp imaginable. He didn't expect Abbey would have the courage to talk with her so soon, so he took point on the matter. 'I'm certainly alive, thanks for asking.' Paulo shouted back with a smile, 'What about you? Where'd you run off to?'

'Someone grabbed hold of me and pulled me back when he hit you — I didn't even get a look at them. I was so scared! Then they all just. . . left, apparently there was another party at the other end of the backyard?'

'Just as well as you didn't get hurt either.' He jabbed Abbey with his elbow. 'Right?'

'Oh—Right!'

Jasmine appeared to hesitate as she approached them. 'Abbey.' She said.

'Jasmine?' Abbey said.

She looked worried for a moment. 'Could. . . I. . . be alone with Paulo for a moment?'

'O—Oh. . .' Abbey said it with a heavy sigh. Paulo was convinced it wouldn't take much for him to break down in front of them. It was when Paulo's hand went to his arm that kept him from doing just that. He had heard the two had gotten along quite well over the last couple of months according to Sue.

'It's fine dude, we're just gonna talk; catching up — from before.'

Jasmine waved her hands out in front of herself worryingly, 'That's right! I only want to finish what we were talking about.'

'It's alright, I know.' Abbey said walking past them. 'Suppose I'll just go wait outside.' It was as soon as he reached the door he found it harder to move. He stopped when something, or someone press into his back, it wrapped its arms around him and hugged tightly.

'Don't…go too far. I want to talk about us after.' Jasmine told him.

Abbey looked apologetically behind himself. 'Alright.' He disappeared out through the door as she let go of him.

She sighed, and turned on the spot and back towards him, both in silence as she did so. She rubbed her arm. 'Well, hurry up and say it.' She muttered.

He tilt his head, 'Say what exactly?'

'That I'm being stupid!' She shouted.

He shrugged, 'Well, duh. You're dating Abbey. Thought you'd have figured it out by now.' He laughed. But not for long, it was replaced with regret. Her glare was long and deep as if he'd disturbed a dragon from its sleep.

'Not that! Don't be such an asshole to him!' She shouted.

His hands came up quickly, 'I'm just joking!' He lowered them. 'Really! I just. . . thought about cracking the ice.'

'Try breaking it in a way that doesn't do it at his expense! This is why neither of you could get along!'

'Oh come on, it's not like it's ever been a one way street. Why is everyone like this?!'

'Because it's the truth; you'd never given him a chance to see another side of you.'

'There wasn't ever a chance; he acted like an asshole to me long before too.' He shouted. 'Why are you defending him anyway? Are you his girlfriend, or aren't you?'

'What does it matter? I'm just telling you how it is! I don't need to be to do that, don't I?' Jasmine shouted back.

'So I guess that's a no then?' Paulo asked.

She sat up on the counter. 'It's. . .not exactly a no. You know I have been trying to convince him there's more to you. . .a better side. If you'd just let him see that for a change.'

'Why would you even bother? We've never interacted since he broke up with Daisy. God. You know it would've been better if it stayed like that; he's given me nothing but a headache since I got here. He's been on my ass the entire time, and people had been expecting me to be the one to sort out the deal between you two.'

Jasmine played with her fingers. 'You know. . . I want to think I know why.'

Paulo snorted. 'Yeah. Well, let's hear it.'

Abbey brooded from the other side of the kitchen door frame. The night was going about as well as he'd expected, in that he wasn't expecting to have a good night to begin with — and he wasn't. He felt more miserable than when he arrived. It had been one thing after another. Nothing that really matched the aspirations that Sue had that the night would bring him: It didn't make him feel calmer. It didn't make him feel any happier to be around the people he hung around back years ago. Instead it just dredged up bad memories. And worst of all; Paulo was Paulo. Sue had promised him that she wouldn't let Paulo ruin the night. Yet, here he was, hating the fact that he was the one waiting outside the kitchen; that Jasmine was the one who told him to leave, while she talks to someone who she once said she'd gladly moved on from.

Just her and Paulo, together.

He felt sorry for himself. So fucking frustrated with himself too. He couldn't take this; just standing around. Acting like a guard dog to a person who ridiculed him the whole time he'd been at Roseville. Just what were they doing in there? Were they making out? God, he could imagine Paulo doing that. Never-mind he was dating Sue, he could definitely picture Paulo making out with every female he could get his hands on. His blood boiled with every thought, and his heart hurt along with it.

Paulo had always been like that. He was just simply bad news. The worst kind of role model that anyone could follow. His current girlfriend one of them originally, who wised up, thankfully. He saw no reason to think otherwise.

Maybe except the people who told him he might have been wrong about him, and that turned out to be. . .

Everyone. Everyone basically. Even Jasmine.

He felt upset and conflicted. Everyone told him Paulo wasn't so bad. But something in him was telling him different, as if he were a threat. It was all reminiscent of long ago.

It hurt to think about.

He saw David poke his head up from the from the far side of the room and look around himself. The lounge bar blocked his view of most of the room. Suddenly, he was interested. He looked over the bar. 'Ah', he told himself. David was still doing what he said he'd be doing; cleaning the floor where Paulo had been struck down before. But then he realised it wasn't; David was cleaning in the wrong area. He lent over to his side and looked through the doorway to the opposite end of the house. He was sitting on the couch there, he could see everything, even Paulo being hit. So why was David cleaning on the opposite side?

Whatever. It was a convenient enough distraction. He kicked off the wall and walked towards him. 'What are you doing? You're cleaning the wrong area.' He asked.

'No I'm not.' David told him. 'There's blood here too.'

Abbey walked closer, it was then he noticed the smears of something red on the carpet closest to the doors leading to the outside. He shook his head, 'That's a drink, clearly.'

'It doesn't smell like it.'

Abbey considered that just so, David was a dog after all and his sense of smell was better already.

'Fine, it's blood.' He said squinting. 'What's blood doing over here then? Pretty sure he landed on his back when Paulo hit him'

'Dunno.' David said pouring baking soda over it.

'Why are you cleaning it?' Abbey looked around. The white carpet was full of stains. God, everyone's been spilling their drinks. 'You're never going to clean all this up.'

'If I can clean it up, Katie won't be mad.' David said.

'Katie's pissed at us enough.' He looked over to the sachet of baking soda. 'You know that's not going to be enough for all these stains.'

'Maybe, but she's mad at me more.' David said, lifting up the sachet. 'But she shouldn't be mad at Paulo.'

Abbey swiped it out of his hands.

'Hey!' David shouted, standing up.

'Why are you helping him?' Abbey demanded to know. 'He'd never do the same for you.'

'He would too!'

'He would not!' He shouted again. He backed away as David clumsy lunged towards him.

'He's my best friend!' David said, trying to snatch back the sachet. 'Come on, give it back! I need to finish it before Katie gets back. I said give it!'

Abbey could tell David was getting quite frustrated; His lunges were getting faster. He appeared more agitated. His arms were coming in over his head.

'Give it! or I'll—'

'Hit me already!' Abbey demanded.

He didn't. He stopped instead. David looked at him puzzled and stepped back. 'What?' He asked.

'You're not getting this back.' Abbey told him. 'You'll have to come and get it.'

David couldn't help but feel more confused. 'I'm. . . not . . . why do you want me to hurt you?'

Abbey's arms shook while he said it; 'Because you need to. Please.' Abbey pleaded.

'Even if you want me to, I can't.' David said.

'Why the hell not?!'

'Because it would make everyone's night worse.' David said. 'Including best bud's.'

The answer did nothing but make Abbey more visibly angry. Tears began to swell in his eyes. 'God DAMMIT!' He shouted, throwing the sachet to the ground in front of him. He fell down to his knees and used his hands to stop the droplets. 'Why does everyone like him so much? It just doesn't make any sense! He treats women like shit and he manages to get them all! It doesn't make sense!'

David slowly lowered himself to retrieved the sachet from the ground. He sighed and turned it upside down in the grip of his hand. Nothing fell out. Not a single speck of baking soda. 'Because he was my first friend. We'd been inseparable for the largest part of elementary; he'd do it for me.' He sniffed.

Abbey looked up enough to catch David in tears of his own. He didn't mean to act like a bully to him, to be so mean. He just— 'David, I didn't mean it. I'm sor—'

'If you need someone to be angry, you should be angry at me.' David said miserably, shaking his head. 'Not buddy.'

'Angry at you?! Why?'

'Paulo's the way he is because of me! Couldn't ya tell?' David shouted.

'You're not making sense! I don't understan—.'

'Come on! All the games we used to play. But he was happy, ya' know.' He tried to explain again.

Abbey shook his head furiously. This was turning out worse than he imagined. He was furious at himself, and now he's set David off. He was the one making the night worse. 'You're still not making sense. Look, forget it.' He started back towards the kitchen 'Let's just go back to the kitchen and get some baking soda, that way you cou—.' He found himself yanked backwards as David's hand pulled on his arm.

'Yes it does!' David sobbed. He shook him with both his hands on his shoulders. 'I couldn't even help him back then.'

'Back when?'

'When he tried to ask Lucy out again.'

'What, back when we were second years?'

'No! In junior! She kinda. . .really. . .you know, let him have it when he asked.' He tried to explain. 'And not in a really nice way either.'

Abbey sighed. 'Well, Paulo did kind of act up when he was her rebound, you know.'

'Yeah. . .no thanks to me.'

'I doubt it was just you, David. He was pretty capable of stopping so I'm pretty sure he doesn't hold that against you.'

'Yeah. . .maybe. . .But I can't help but think I caused that. You think he was capable?'

Abbey held his breath. 'I guess.'

'That's not exactly the worst part either.'

Abbey arched an eyebrow, 'What was that?'

'I couldn't do anything to help over the summer holidays.' David said looking hopeless. 'He wasn't answering his phone. He. . .He just fell off the face of the earth.'

He'd heard as much himself. Someone said something of the like back in the MMO around the summer vacation. He didn't pay too much mind to it himself. He zoned out of most of the Paulo discussion whenever it arose. He was with Jasmine at the time too, and she took most of his time. But, 'He was that bad?' He asked.

'He'd only been crushing on her since middle school.' David tried to explain. 'He was pretty sure they'd never be a thing, and then I kinda made him think they could've been.'

He felt conflicted. He really did. There was every bit of justice in everything he said between the antics they got up to and the consequences that came from them. But Abbey couldn't find the power to tell him I told you so. He just didn't have the heart to. 'Well we've all made our fair share of mistakes that catch up with us.' Abbey tried to say reassuringly.

'You don't think he hates me, do you?'

Abbey looked back towards the kitchen. 'What, do you mean that idiot? Don't think he does well holding a poker face. Don't you?'

'Yeah. That's true.' David agreed, feeling a little better.

'I'd think you'd be pretty safe. The only thing he manages to mask is the good things he supposedly does.' Abbey said, arching an eyebrow and folding his arms.

'You mean like how he's in there chatting up Jasmine to find out what exactly the problem with your relationship is?' David asked.

Abbey stared at him. He said nothing.

David folded his arms. He said nothing either.

'You have a real great way not being vocal of your surroundings, did anyone ever tell you that.' Abbey commented. He rubbed the nape of his neck. 'They are only talking, aren't they?'

'I tried to find him someone else a couple of days ago.' David said, before chuckling to himself. 'I haven't seen him so close to someone before.' David mentioned. 'Sue, you know?'

'I'm surprised she wasn't needing to whip him just to keep him under control. Heh. And here I was thinking I had her figured out too.' Abbey said.

They both stared at the door.

Abbey shook his head. 'I'm going to go outside.'

'Why? Where are you going?'

'The shed. Figured if he's going to be trying to clean up my mess, I should probably do the same back.' He said walking to the doorway. 'Reckon there'd be any cleaning supplies in there?'

David didn't see any when he went in there the first time. But he'd be up for another look.

Paulo lowered his hand after a moment. 'Sorry. Thought I heard yelling outside.' His ear flicked around again. Still nothing. Whatever was going on outside had since stopped. He shook his head and turned back towards Jasmine again. 'Forget it. Can we talk about you guys now?'

'I—I guess.' Jasmine said hesitantly. 'What did you want before?'

'What are you doing?' He started. 'You dyed your hair and I feel like you'd never touch anything like what you're wearing on any other day.'

She sighed and bought her hands up so she could rest her head on them, 'I don't know anymore. I only meant to scare my parents. Becoming too unchristian-like; dating an atheist an all that.'

He leaned forwards, 'I hope that isn't the only reason you're dating him.'

Jasmine rose, 'What? No!' She shouted. 'It's just something that came after I had him for dinner one night! My dad's a devout Christian. I didn't think that extended to me too!'

'That would've been an awkward dinner conversation. And what did Abbey say?'

'He said if it was a problem, he could become one too!'

Paulo laughed, 'Oh my god, of course he would, and I bet he also suggested he'd break up if that meant it wouldn't make you look bad in front of your father.'

Jasmine threw her arms down to her lap. 'He did!' She screamed to herself.

Paulo mixed his groan with his laughter. 'What a disaster! He would be just like that!'

'It's not funny Paulo!' She seethed. 'I love Abbey but I was so pissed off with him when he said that!'

'I'd bet.' Paulo agreed. 'So, what's the problem? Most girls I know would kill for a boyfriend who's willing to bend over like that for them.'

'What if I'm not one of those kind of girls?! What if I don't want Abbey to change for me?'

'Then just tell him he doesn't need to?!'

'I did.' Jasmine pointed out. ' . . well, I tried to.' She looked in the other direction. 'That's not the only problem.'

'What's the other problem?

'He. . .' Jasmine tried to speak. 'Well he. . .always wants to do what I want to do.'

'Okay?'

'Paulo for chr—. . .heaven's sake! He only wants to do what I want to do! We haven't once done something he wants to do for a change!'

'Well fine! Tell him then! He needs to call the shots sometimes!'

'I can't.'

'Whaddya mean, 'you can't'? He's your boyfriend; you can tell him these things! Hell you can tell him anything!' Paulo couldn't help but feel she was hiding something, as she looked away. 'Seriously, what's keeping you from telling him the truth?' He asked again.

She sighed a very deep sigh. 'Because every time I go to. . .it reminds me of you.'

Paulo fell silent. 'And that's stopping you? How is it different from back then when we were dating, you told me things all the time!'

She didn't return him a response, instead she grew more fearful and worrisome.

'You're not falling for me again are you?'

'N—No. That's not what I—I mean I love Abbey but—' She fumbled. Her heart was pounding. She just couldn't explain the words! But then she found a way; 'Oh come on!' she shouted. 'When we were going out we were always doing cool things together! It almost felt like every weekend but he hasn't even come up with a single idea! He always asks me what I want to do.'

'Is this really the problem? He's just thinking about things you'd like to enjoy.'

'When we were together, we did a lot of things I didn't enjoy.'

Paulo felt himself backing off a little. 'O—Oh. Was. . .was that a problem? I could've—'

'No, you lame-brain. That's what I'm saying! It wasn't, but I learned to like some of the things we did; I didn't like horror movies, but I grew to! Do you know how long it's been since I've been to the movies? Months! Every time we get together he just wants to study! He just…really tries to please people around us. . .Just not me!'

'Then just tell him you want him to call the shots and do things that isn't just study!'

'No!'

He gave an exasperated sigh. 'You know you're going to have to at some stage. Remember us? Remember how we didn't talk about this? It's the same thing. Not to mention the idiot's been following Daisy around for years now, you've been dating for. . .what, three months?'

'Six.'

'And that's great! But he's an idiot who's been following Daisy around for years trying to be a good influence. He doesn't know anything different.'

She took a moment to think about it. 'Can you try to tell him, please?'

Paulo shook his head, 'He's your boyfriend.'

'Haven't you ever noticed Abbey hangs around girls? I can't be wrong with him!'

'He's not going to listen to me? Are you crazy?'

'He needs guy friends. He needs someone who can tell him to care more about himself. It's only ever been about me and not him. He just needs to be a bit more…' Jasmine searched for the word.

Paulo felt he knew where this was really going. 'Selfish.' Paulo finished.

She twirl a lock of her hair in her finger. 'You were really good at doing the things you wanted to do.'

'You know I can't force him to change.'

'I know.'

He studied her. 'You really do care about him, don't you?'

'I—I do'

It was a very aggressive and frustrated sigh. He knew he'd have to pay her back some time for the friendship roses. 'Fine.' He said, surrendering. 'I'll speak with him. Don't know what it'll come to. We haven't gotten along well in the past and I'm not sure he'll be willing to listen.' He turned to her. 'But this, whatever this is, you know you shouldn't do this to him of all people.'

She looked regretful, 'I know.'

'I mean seriously, he put all his love into Daisy and. . .didn't get much back, he'd be on a very unlucky streak if you were to do the same thing.'

'Didn't you get Daisy and Abbey back together originally?' Jasmine queried.

'Technically, I'm doing the same thing for you, aren't I?'

'Ha, yeah I guess.' Jasmine said, feeling a little embarrassed for herself. 'No friendship roses this time though.'

Paulo smiled as he sighed. He found the strength to stand and got up off the bar stool. 'I'll go speak to him now then so the night's not all wasted.'

Relief washed over Jasmine's face. But, she was curious, from that earlier time. 'H—Hey, before you go.' Jasmine said. 'Back before when we were talking, you said it was an accident, you know. . .back at Daisy's house. . . did you really mean it?'

Paulo scratched his head. 'Yeah. I was going to tell Lucy. It's just that Rachel was there to pick up the pieces when she disappeared.' He said, feeling sad. 'I didn't mean to let her do that. I just. . .liked the attention. Suppose you were right, in the end you needed someone more mature.'

'You always had such weird relationships with your friends, I almost thought you really liked Daisy that much while we were together.' She giggled, 'Suppose it was only inevitable.'

Paulo shook his head. 'Hey. Don't be like that! I actually enjoyed our time together.' He smiled as Jasmine's head looked up to him in surprise. 'But. . you know, I started having feelings for Lucy again. . . and well, that's history.'

Jasmine's ears flattened, 'You still don't feel the same even with Sue now, do you?'

He said it with a stern expression on his face, 'No.'

'How is it with Sue? Do you get along?' She asked.

He lent against the same table she was on. 'Ha, for the most part. She's a complete pain in my ass. Did she ever tell you how we got together?'

She shook her head.

'She ran from the other side of town when we had that huge storm roll in. She was stuck at my place for the whole day.'

'That's really nice of her!'

It wasn't quite the reaction he was expecting. He expected her to say it was crazy, but still, he smiled. 'Yeah . . .yeah it was. Scared the crap out of her too. She just barely got to the door when it hit. We sorta. . . fought over it, ended up hurting each other. Then. . .you know, she told me. It's kinda nice — her, that is.' He sighed to himself. 'I. . .I should probably go find her actually.'

Jasmine nodded. 'I'm happy you've found someone who'd run across half the town for you.'

'And the rest. Kicked my sorry ass into gear.' He laughed.

Jasmine smiled. 'I'll let you in on a lil' secret if you can keep it one?' She asked.

'Sure?'

'I'm heaps jealous of Sue right about now.'

'You shouldn't be.'

'Well, I'm thinking if I just waited a couple of years. . .'

'Yeah. But you love Abbey right?'

'O—Of course I do!'

Paulo flashed his trademark grin and stepped outside.

The smell got to him first. Holy shit, it was strong all right. Whatever David had turned to using was doing well for his sinuses. He turned his head. He expected Abbey to be near the door frame — brooding. Doing that thing he did when he was in a fowl mood. Waiting for his turn to go inside and to Jasmine. So Paulo was surprised when he wasn't there.

'Where the fuck did you go?' Paulo shouted.

'Over here.' He recognised Abbey's voice coming from somewhere in the room.

He walked forwards, and sure enough, Abbey and David were doing what they could with the various stains in the carpet.

'Can't see shit because that Bar table is too high.' Paulo muttered walking towards them.

'Yeah, thought the same thing a few minutes ago, actually.' Abbey stood. 'Not going to ask us what we're doing?'

'David doesn't want me to foot the bill.' Paulo said.

'We're in perfect sync!' An elated David yelled out with his arms stretched above him.

Abbey rolled his eyes and smiled. 'Is it my turn in there?'

'Yeah. I got her ready for you.'

Abbey treated the question with some suspicion. 'What do you mean?' He asked.

'Oh my god, we just talked.'

'I know,' Abbey smirked. 'Just. . .trying to messing with you.'

'Well you succeeded. . .Don't do it again; it's not you.'

The smirk fell off his face. 'Oh.' Paulo couldn't help but recognise him as the Abbey they all love and adored again. 'Never-mind then.' He continued. He went to move past him. He stopped when he felt Paulo's hand keeping him there.

'Hold up. Can we talk about something quickly?'

'Well I expected she spoke about us?' Abbey asked, a little irritated. 'What are you going say? Something rude? Insulting?'

'Chill dude, no need to get defensive. I just want to ask something.'

'What is it then?'

'Did you really offer to split up from her?'

'What?'

'Come on man, Apparently you said something to her father at the house.' Paulo asked, folding his arms.

Abbey tried to remember, 'I. . . I might have? I can't remember?'

'Seriously?'

Abbey racked his head. 'God, look I'm trying to. . .I might've? Why are you even asking me this?' He stretched his arms out at his sides. 'Are you trying to give me advice?'

'Hey man, don't shoot the messenger, okay? I just finished talking with her and she said something to that extent. Is she right or wrong?'

'I. . .might've.'

Paulo sighed in frustration. 'Look, Just go in there and make up with her.'

'That's it?' Abbey asked.

Paulo shook his head. 'No? Not really? Give some real thought to what you said back then and whether you meant it. I don't know what you were trying to do but she took that to heart.'

Abbey didn't say anything, he just hung his head in acknowledgment. 'Anything else?' He asked.

'Dunno, take her out to a movie you want to see for a change. She's dying to know more about you, but she can't if you only take her to things she likes to do.'

'I see. . .' Abbey said. 'I'll see what I can do with that.'

'Just. . .fuckin' be selfish man. Surely there are things you'd want to do, places you'd want to go. Just. . .don't study all the time. There's more to this than that.' Paulo turned and walked past them. 'I can't take the smell. I'm gonna stand outside for a bit. I'm not doing this cupid shit anymore either. I've got my own problems.'

'Thanks for your honesty.' Abbey said back.

Paulo didn't return a response, Abbey only saw the back of his head shake before he moved past them, back into the room where Stacy took him when he arrived.

David didn't say anything until Paulo was out of sight. 'He says that, but he'll come around to it eventually.'

Abbey shrugged. 'Guess I can count on you for relationship advice until then?'

David's eyes shone brightly again.

He wasn't in the kitchen by the time she got back. It was only after looking around the entire house for Paulo, Sue had found him outside on the balcony, looking out into what had become the real party in Katie's yard some hundred meters away from them. The house was completely deserted with only a few party goers making a quick retreat for a bathroom break before going back out into the cold. The alcohol must've been helping in one way or another. Food wasn't being delivered to the main dance room. Instead, Paulo watched as the servants tried to carry a table through the snow to the new party. He suspected Katie must've given up. Her "friends" had found enjoyment in the various children's games that David had set up expecting them to use.

There was some solace in Paulo knowing needn't worry about turning into someone different when he turned into an adult. Apparently, all that happens is you turn into a bigger kid.

'I've been looking all over the house for you.' Sue said coming up beside him.

'Feeling better?' Paulo queried.

'I should be asking much the same to you.' She said, 'I'm fine now, but what about you?'

'Feeling better.' Paulo said. 'Can't say this didn't help.' He held out an unopened bottle he was saving for her. He watched her face grimaced, and he laughed when she held her palm out, an affirm 'No, I'm done drinking tonight.' It told him.

'All the more for me then.' Paulo said, taking a sip from his bottle.

'Blech.' Sue said, sticking her tongue out. 'Go for your life.'

He gave a bit of a laugh while resting his head off his hand. 'Some party.' He sighed.

'Yeah…some party.' Sue agreed, resting her head against him. 'Did you want me to ring my mother and have her pick us up?'

'That'd be nice.'

'Oh? Not going to suggest walking home?' She quizzed.

'No.' Paulo said, he shook his head. 'Certainly not after tonight.'

Sue didn't say anything. She joined in looking out to the party at the far end of the yard, listening in to the amusement coming from it. 'Sorry.' She said after a minute.

'What for?' Paulo asked.

'I bought you out to this party to relax and get together with friends.' She sulked. 'Didn't want you to get hurt either. And…I…urp' Sue suddenly lurched forward. Paulo had to look away as she lost the contents of her stomach.

'You alright?' Paulo asked, patting her back.

'Didn't expect to be so sick today.'

'Maybe you've just got a weak stomach.' He chuckled,

'I do not!' Sue moped. She bought herself up off the balcony to a waiting handkerchief being held by Paulo. She wiped her face with it.

'I'll get some water.' Paulo said turning to the main room, he stopped when he felt the tug on his shirt.

'It's alright. I'll be fine.'

He took her word for it, he slumped back on the railing and looked back into the household, observing the people inside; on one side of the room, he found Abbey at least talking to Jasmine. David had only arrived just now, he looked happier. He must've managed to clean the floor. Stacy beside him. He then turned to where they had been sitting, the food Stacy had assembled was looking pretty lonely.

'You know, if you're feeling up to it. I think we should stay a little longer.' He said twisting back around. He looked out to the other party again, but this time he was looking for someone.

'Even though Katie was threatening to throw us out earlier?' Sue asked.

'Reckon she'll remember?' He said, he pointed out. Sue followed his arm out to what seemed like a figure of Katie chugging a good gallon of beer from one of those enormous transparent funnels. They both watched her with amazement as the funnel contents disappeared.

'Oh my god.' Sue exclaimed as she watched. 'She doesn't want to remember anything at this rate!'

'So, you're agreeing with me, right?' Paulo said, smiling. 'A little while longer?'

'Are you sure? It's been an awful night for you so far.'

Paulo looked back into the small room. His eyes meeting David's. Then to Abbey and Jasmine, and Stacy entering the room too.

'Yeah, lets just give it an hour and be a group again.'

Sue couldn't say no, her phone went back into her pocket.


	27. Battered hearts (Part III)

Katie, number-one Diva and number-one cheer-leader of Roseville High (both, naturally, self-proclaimed), the only daughter of the fourth richest family in town and hostess of the party, finally retreated indoors after spending her most miserable hour of the night out in the cold where the party had moved to since someone discovered David's construction. She shivered in her coat. It wasn't intentional; she didn't mean to stay out there that long, she'd been long out of her comfort zone for approximately fifty-nine minutes – more or less the whole time she'd been out there. Who's stupid idea was it to move the party outside anyway? She wondered to herself. Oh. . .right, she remembered – that's why she went outside there in the first place; it had been to find that particular person. She'd kick them out in a heartbeat like she did Stacy's friends as soon as she'd find them, nevermind 'why' the party was now being held out there. She was the host. Any party outside wasn't a party at all. It had to be one of the boys who did it. Boys were stupid, boys under the influence of alcohol would be doubly-stupid. Their partners probably didn't have a choice. Most of them were so buzzed they probably didn't even feel how cold it was. Whatever. She'd had just about enough of everyone at this stage; the party was turning into an utter disaster. although, this time it wasn't just because of, yet, the fifth fight she'd felt the need to watch over – 'watch', as opposed to doing anything like break it up herself. Could you imagine? Her? Breaking up a fight between two testosterone driven idiots? As-if! Let them sort themselves out! She grumbled.

Her patience had been tested that whole night, especially when the friends of the ones fighting would then ask her to call an Ambulance, or make the call to send the instigator home. There was a problem with the former option. There wasn't one with the later option, she could do that quite easily. Hell, right now she'd sooner call the rest of Jack's bouncer friends and see if they can help 'escort' the people partying off in the cold, to a place out the front of her mansion. It was preferred at this stage. She'd have no problems with the call-out fee either. It would be insignificant to the amount she'd save doing something worse like calling the police, and having them discover the drugs on some of the people here. They'd been getting passed around. She knew about it too; she was furious. But they were her friends, and…ah… her parents wouldn't be pleased about hearing the police had to be called out to their house over it. They wouldn't be happy about having to come back from their cruise. So, she told no one about it.

She sneezed a very elegant sneeze. Well. . .tried to. She almost fell over into the snow on the way back as she swayed about from the new location of the party since being challenged by that bitch Melissa to a drinking contest with the beer bong. There was no way she was going to be beaten by her. Her pride was going to be her undoing; she was going to be sick tomorrow, she knew that much – if not from the alcohol, more likely the from the nasty cold she'd likely get. Nothing she could do about it now.

She whined to herself in frustration – tonight was the worst! Why did she ever think she needed to host this party? She wanted to find Stacy, she'd cheer her up.

It was then she heard laughter from the inside of the house. That felt odd to her; everyone was supposedly outside. She tried to guess how many voices she heard, but that proved difficult. The other party goers took all the speakers outside and turned them up all the way. She couldn't hear too well above her chattering teeth, but she could at least hear that there were at least two people, and that could only mean one thing. Katie became suspicious before becoming very furious. She even told them straight up when the party started; No fooling around! She did everything to deter people from going upstairs where the bedrooms where. Locking the doors was the first thing she did, barricading the stairs with some junk she had her manservants pull in from the garage was the other.

She stood in the main hallway and was ready to climb up the stairs. She didn't, couldn't rather. The barricade was there. They had to be on the ground level. She turned her head; she heard it again, behind her. This time she assumed it was going from the west wing. How brazen! To be doing it where people could see them! She'd give them a piece of her mind. This time she would call the police!

She blinked when she found them, thankfully not doing what she had in mind. Much the opposite, they sat in seats and laughed to one another with packets of chips and cans of drink on the table between them. There were more here than what she expected. There wasn't supposed to be another party here. 'What the…' She said, slowly, begganing their attention as she walked into the room. She didn't expect to see Paulo, David, Abbey and Sue here; she'd asked them to leave. Jasmine was here too. She wasn't feeling cold anymore, quite the opposite; she felt her blood boil, more than it had before when she thought people were _fucking_ in her house. Something worse was going on and her patience had already been pushed to the limit. 'I thought I told you all to go!' She yelled. Her furore unleashed for them all to see.

Stacy stood up so Katie could see her. 'It's okay, Katie; they've rung their parents.' She said, trying to calm her down.

Paulo knew that to be a lie; they'd chosen to try and stick around and take as long as they needed to. Stacy had suggested doing so herself, going against Katie's very own wishes. He couldn't help but find some amazement in him by the suggestion; Stacy always seemed to have been under Katie's thumb while they were at school. Personally, the thought of collectively rebelling against Katie thrilled him in every way, especially after how she treated him earlier. He could count on David behind him all the way, nevermind the incident from others weren't, however; far too good for their own good and finding themselves as trespassers, it was her house after all. But Sue did manage to convince them, especially when she told them all how drunk Katie appeared from before. 'There's no way in hell she'd be able to walk after seeing that! It'll be fine! She won't remember! Now come on! We're here to enjoy this party!' She yelled aloud at the time.

And they'd find themselves wrong, again. Even more worrying to them was why Katie was acting this upset in the first place. They'd been invited, and sure; they were going to be kicked out for Paulo getting involved in a fight. But they were the only ones from school there that evening. Surely there would've been some consideration there? And they'd be wrong there as well. Katie clenched her fists. 'They can, like, wait outside!' She roared back. 'Why are they still here?! Jus' give them their coats and get them to leave!'

'Ah...uhhh. . .well, you see...' Stacy stammered.

Paulo turned back to Stacy just in time to see the flame of whatever resistance that was building inside of her teetering and threatning to extinguish. He couldn't help but feel some sympathy for Stacy; she looked like she'd stepped on a thousand nails. He had a theory as to why; right now Stacy's double life was hanging in the balance. It must've been difficult managing to lead a double life; being a friend of Katie and being part of the "in" girls, but also being with the people who weren't at the same time. She was at the center of it; they were her guests, and they were asked to leave. He had to beleive for a moment that there was one thing Katie hated more than anything in the world, and it had to do with her word not being followed. That had to be it. She appeared like that kind of a person, and it was also a reason why he never tried to get with her in the first place. It'd never work out between them, but never mind that. He felt he needed to do something. Take the blame away from Stacy. He wasn't going to wait for Sue to nudge him like she did with Abbey before. He was going to help. He tried to stand, but stopped when Stacy saw him out the corner of her eye, and held a hand up from her side; don't, it meant, and he sat back down.

'I'm not going to let them stand out in the cold.' Stacy said.

'An' why the hell not?!'

'Because they're my friends, Katie. I invited them. You let me.'

Katie let air fill her cheeks for a second, they disappeared. 'I let you invite them so I could promote the party in the school newsletter.' She said in a rather bored way, 'But a lot of good that did. Only these ones came.'

It angered him a little. He couldn't help but possibly wonder why that was the case in the first place. He made a noise involuntarily, causing Katie's eyes to shift quickly over to his. He felt his spine freeze before realising this was what Stacy was dealing with.

Stacy appeared shocked by the admission, 'I would've done it for you anyway!' She shouted. 'They're our school friends, Katie. I'm not leaving them out in the cold, and especially not after one of your other friends did to Paulo! Why are you being such a bitch tonight?!'

That turned out to be the wrong answer. Katie's face appeared devoid of any emotion in that second. Her eyes narrowed as her hands went onto her hips. 'I think you should go too.' Katie said to her.

'What?' Stacy asked.

'Yeah, you should go, take them all with you.' Her face remaining unchanged even as Stacy's jaw dropped as low as it would go. 'Or I'll have my bouncer remove you myself.' She turned towards Stacy's friends, 'Now. Get — the lot of you! Grab your coats, get your things, and get the hell out of my house; the party is over!'

They did as they were told this time; the threat was too real. They grabbed their belongings, grabbed their coats, and walked as fast as they could out of the front door one after the other. Adding insult to injury, Katie followed behind them, screaming at the bouncer to make sure they didn't try to return. They wouldn't.

It took all the energy in the world for Paulo not to suddenly twist around and flip Katie the bird, his better judgement finally conceeding they just didn't need the additional trouble.

They all found themselves on the other side of the front gate, where Katie had expected them to be before. It was a dark night; cloud covered most of the sky and not a single star could be seen. Only a single street lamp provided the only light for miles around. And it was cold. The only company for miles was between themselves and the thumping of the music coming from the back of the yard, muddled and incomprehensible as it was.

Paulo jumped suddenly at the precise moment when a loud sound exploded beside him. He turned in the nick of time to find it was Stacy. In her most absolute frustration shouting at the tip of her lungs back towards the mansion. 'Katie is such a bitch!' It echoed around. A tremendous scream. It was only a shame it would accomplish so little, especially considering how far away both Katie's and any neighbouring house was from each other. Not to mention the thumping of the music coming from the back of her house meant there was no chance in hell anyone at the mansion would hear either. And that was okay; it didn't bother Stacy a bit. She only said it to feel better for herself, and she did, loads better after it was all out of her system. It was only the people that mattered who heard her. That was more than enough.

Stacy turned towards the hand that found itself rested on her shoulder, to Sue. 'Hanging in there?' Sue asked her, feeling the need to especially after what Katie had told her moments before.

'Not really.' Stacy admitted, looking hurt as she did through the deceit.

'I'm sure she wasn't really just using you all this time. I—It's been a long night out, you know? She's probably just exhausted.' Sue tried to reassure her.

'Thanks, Sue. But. . .I think maybe she was.' She explained.

Sue's voice was soft. 'Using you, but why do you think so?'

Stacy shook her head, 'Katie's been acting strangely for most of this year. I—I just only thought about it on the way down here. It. . .kind've explains why she seemed so distant a couple of weeks ago when we used to talk during lunch.' She brushed at the side of her face where her hair was, 'Actually. . .now that I'm thinking about it more. . .It was when we were coming up to our senior year. Then. . .things started getting worse.'

'What do you mean worse?'

'She'd. . .gotten angry at me a couple of weeks ago.'

'Over what?'

'Hair dye. . .?'

Sue blinked in disbelief. 'Hair dye? Surely she's. . .'

'She made a huge deal about it!' Katie said towards the ground. '. . .and how I shouldn't be in charge of anything.' Stacy's face contorted as a tear leaked out of one of her eyes. She rubbed at it.

Sue's hand came up to her shoulders again. 'No no no no no. . .Stacy don't.' Sue tried to say.

'I'm sorry.' Stacy muttered, drawing an arm across her other eye as another tear rolled out of her eyes. 'I should've told you about it earlier. I knew you were looking forward to the party so I didn't tell you things weren't going so well.'

'You shouldn't have done this just for me.' Sue said, she swallowed, 'H. . .How long has it been like this?'

Stacy thought about it, looking towards her feat. 'M—Most of the year. . .now that I think about it.' Sue felt crestfallen as Stacy continued, 'I—It wasn't bad at first. But then she started getting a bit meaner, and I. . .I put up with it. B—Because I really wanted us to have a christmas party! I just. . . just wish. . .'. She felt Sue wrap her arms around her and push into her.

'You shouldn't have!' Sue sobbed into her. 'You should've told someone! We could've done something else! We didn't have to have the party.'

'Maybe. . .' Stacy said, bringing her hands up to Sue's shoulders. 'But I really wanted you guys to have some good memories.' Her mouth made a smile as she said it. Then it turned into a sly grin. 'Besides, figured I'd get the most out of her through the party. But. . .' It turned into a frown. 'Now that I think about it. She'd stopped inviting me out. I didn't think too much about it back then, it meant I had more time to hang more online. . . I should've seen it coming.'

Paulo wandered over to them as Stacy retreated her hand into her purse and withdrew her phone. As tall as he was, he could easily watch over Stacy's shoulder as she opened her contacts on the small device, scrolled through it until she came onto Katie's name, and selected the "delete" option. And that was it. He had to feel for her in that moment; she'd been Katie's close friend for such a long time. It was a very bizarre thing that only moments ago one of the longest lasting friendships at Roseville High had ended that night over a party. And Stacy was left with one half of the double-life she had at school. As much as he thought there'd be less stress in her life, he couldn't get over how sad she appeared. Paulo looked to Sue as well, she looked miserable. His hand came up to Stacy's shoulder. 'Hey, don't worry about it Stace,' He said. 'She'll forget about it by school again, surely.'

Stacy shook her head. 'She'll forget about David and the mess if she didn't write it down, but she won't forget that I didn't do as she asked. That's the one thing that doesn't run past her.' She shrugged, 'But whatever.' She attempted to smile, looking down at her phone. But it didn't take much for Paulo to see through such a vain effort.

He scratched his cheek, he looked for other ways to encourage her, 'Well. . . look at it this way; at least you don't have to fake it at school anymore, right?' He asked. He continued again when she looked towards him again. 'I mean, you won't have to live between two lives now. That's good right? It is Katie after all, who cares about her, right?'

David pushed himself between them. 'Yeah! Down with the gold digging bitches!' He shouted.

Stacy laughed lightly, she shook her head, 'Katie isn't that bad. . .really.' She tried to suggest. 'I. . .I just wish she wasn't like this.'

He was going to protest about it. It was when he looked to Sue first. She shook her head apologetically. He thought otherwise, another time, but not now. 'Well. . .Maybe.' Paulo wondered aloud, thinking to himself. 'Well . . .hopefully things manage to fix themselves. But. . .we'll keep a spot open at lunch on Monday if things don't work, alright?'

Stacy smiled. 'Thank you, Paulo. That means a lot.'

Sue nodded in unison, 'Yeah. It'll be fine! She'll probably forget all about it by tomorrow.' She tried to reassure her.

They didn't find themselves the only ones trying to encourage her, Abbey put his phone away after writing on it and came over smiling towards her. 'It was a nice party while it lasted.' He started. He looked at Paulo, realised, and cringed a little bit to himself, 'Not the. . . you know.' Paulo rolled his eyes at him and shook his head with a half smile. Abbey turned back to Stacy, 'Thank you for inviting us all.'

'Thanks Abbey, but. . . oh.' She was livid in the next second, 'Neither of you have to force yourselves to make me feel better! It was a total bust from the get-go!'

'Yeah.' David said, shaking his head. 'It was awful.' He jutted to the side suddenly and groaned along with it as Sue filled the space between them with a well placed elbow into his side. 'I mean, thank you for inviting me along as well.' He said, trying to correct himself.

'Thank you for inviting the two of us too.' Sue said as she moved beside Paulo her hand reaching for his.

'Yeah, it was good.' Paulo said, 'I enjoyed myself.'

Sue turned to him with a perplexed look. 'You don't have to force yourself, you know?' She said.

'No, really.' Paulo said again.

Stacy shook her head. 'That shouldn't have to come from anyone, the least of all you. You've had a rough night.' Stacy said.

'It's fine!'

Sue squeezed onto his hand. Paulo turned to her worried expression. 'I mean it, you don't have to force yourself. I only wanted you to have a good night out with friends.'

'And I did, alright?' He paused for a moment as they all turned to him . 'Well. . .alright, the last hour was the only highlight, when I wasn't being beaten in the face.' He said.

They couldn't help but laugh with him.

Stacy beamed with a radiant smile towards him, 'Well. I'm glad to hear it!'

All they could do for the rest of that night was wait. Abbey, David and Sue had messaged or rung their respective rides on the way down from the mansion; their parents (or in Abbey's case, his guardians) to come and pick them up. To fill the time, they occupied each other with questions about their plans once they finished school. Paulo couldn't help but find himself chuckling when it came to Sue's turn. She stammered as she raced to answer on the spot, still not having precisely determined what she wanted to do. It was his turn to put on a show when it came to him, a little embarassed as he hadn't thought of something despite getting better at his studies; working his day shift at the Burgertron shop seemed quite obvious, but as everyone else planned to move to college or univeristy, it didn't feel his plans for hte future were as grand. He wanted to aim big, he knew as much, but nothing had caught his attention. Stacy grabbed onto both their hands and told them encouragingly they'd find something in no short of time. They couldn't help but smile and agree. They had all the time in the world.

Eventually the first of the parents would begin to arrive. David's mother was the first in no short of time to collect her little (figuratively speaking) troublemaker from the party. Quite well familar with the noise the engine made, David's tail had begun to wag even before she came into sight. When she finally did, he was quick on his feat and pushed through them all to the front just as his mother pulled up beside them to the curb. That ended up working fine with Paulo as he instinctively stepped back into the darkness from the lamp posts' light to hide the bandages on his face.

David, as expected was the first to greet her. 'Hi mom!' David shouted at her as she wound down the passenger side window.

'I didn't expect you to be ringing up so early.' She sung out. Her attention frayed from him, thre was another person she was looking for, and she found him by his silhouette. She waved to him. 'Hi Paulo! It's been a while since I've seen you, how've you been?' She asked, finding it peculiar how he hid part of his face in the dark.

He felt something like a jolt of lightning make its way up his back. He turned and waved, 'I'm. . .well!'

She smiled, turning back to the other kids, 'Why are you all outside in the cold? It's absolutely frezing out there.'

They all looked at each other with unease, all of them wondering how they should answer that, or even answer it truthfully. Sue felt like she had to be the one, 'Ahhh, all of our parents are coming to pick us up shortly.' She explained, 'So we came outside. They're not too far behind you!'

Paulo couldn't help but wonder if the lack of creativiy in her explanation was intentional, but he had a feeling David's mother would accept it. Kids do weird things sometimes and David was pretty eccentric on his own. And she would accept it. 'Fair enough.' She smiled back. She turned to her son. 'Well, hurry up Davey, we'll take our leave.'

David didn't need a second. He opened the door to the passenger side and stepped in, putting on his seat belt. He was surprised when Abbey bent down and tapped on the window.

'What's up?' David asked, winding it down.

'Do. . .do you think you can drive Jasmine home?' He asked. 'She happens to live nearby to you.'

David turned towards his mother. 'Should be alright? Huh, Ma?'

'We sure can!' She said, indicating to the rear door on the opposite side, 'Pop around to the other side, honey. The rear door on that side has a bit of a problem.'

Jasmine smiled in Abbey's direction and waved as she crossed around the front of the car to her side, hopped in, did up her seatbelt. David joined her in waving to everyone as the car drove off down the road and disappeared into the night.

Paulo turned to Abbey once the car was out of sight. 'Did you guys happen to work it out after all of that?'

Abbey looked to the ground, neither shaking his head or nodding to the question. 'We're. . .just having a short break from each other.'

Paulo nodded, a little crestfallen, 'Sorry to hear that..' he said to him. His hand came up against Abbey's back with a loud thump, 'Hopefully things get better between you two in the next couple of weeks. Hey fruitcake?' He said cheerfully.

Abbey snorted, 'Yeah, thanks.' He said, wiping Paulo's hand off him. 'Don't think I'm going to let you get away with calling me that in future though.'

Paulo smiled, 'Alright, I'll give it a break.' He said pulling away. The elated feeling faded, replaced with his disappointment in how that aspect of the night's drama's going awry despite his best efforts.

Maybe just some things weren't meant to be, he figured.

Sue checked her phone again. She sent a text off to her mother, but she wasn't getting a response. She didn't know what was going on.

Paulo folded his arms. 'You know, you should just ring her.' He suggested.

'Yeah.' She told him, 'I'll ring her if she takes another five minutes, I know she was supposed to be out with friends. Promise.'

'Alright.'

They didn't need to wait too long for another car to pull upbeside them. Paulo just managed to remember who they were as the passenger window came down revealing the occupants; Janet and Kevin, Abbey's foster parents. He'd met them once in the past when he went to Abbey's house that one time, but never again. They just didn't turn out that close as friends.

'Hey party go-ers!' Kevin took no time shouting.

'You guys are out a lot earlier than I expected.' Janet joined in commenting.

'Aha . . . yeah, we're all partied out.' Abbey replied to them.

'Who's the girl we're taking back with us?' Kevin asked.

'Oh, right.' Abbey said, motioning towards Stacy, 'This is Stacy. Her father's out so she doesn't have any way of getting home.'

'It'll be fine, just jump on in and we'll be on our way. I don't want to leave Molly home for longer than we have to.'

' _If_ there's a home to return to.' Abbey said snarkily. Kevin smiled at it. Janet didn't.

'Oh now don't go bringing that up! It was just a small fire.' Janet shouted.

'Did most of the oven-top.' Kevin said.

'Shoosh.'

'Thanks Abbey.' Stacy said getting in along with him, 'And thank you for taking me home, Mrs...'

'Just Janet will do fine.' She said smiling back to her. She turned to Paulo, the gears in her head clicked once she realised. 'Hey! I remember you! It's been a while since we had you around, how've you been?'

'I've been well!' Paulo waved back.

Her smile disappeared, concern drew across her face, 'What on earth happened to you?'

Paulo blinked. It took him a moment to realise he'd stepped back into the light since David's mother came around. 'O—Oh.' He stuttered, 'I just had. . .a little accident. I fell over on the way over.'

'Oh. . .I'm sorry to hear that.' Janet told him. 'It'd be nice to have you over some time, Abbey doesn't have too many male friends that come by.' She said, jering to Abbey as she turned in her seat back towards Abbey.

Paulo followed her attention to see Abbey's eyes growing larger 'Jan—et!' Abbey shouted in protest. Beside him Stacy held her hand up to her face to cover her smile from him. He couldn't help but laugh herself.

'It's only fair since Molly isn't here to defend herself. Besides. . . it'd be nice if you had a few more male friends.' Janet laughed. She turned back to Paulo, 'Do take up my offer though.'

'Ah. . .well, we'll see.' Paulo said. 'Got a fair amount of study to catch up on this year.'

'Oh, I'm sure Abbey would be happy enough to help.'

He looked back towards Abbey. 'Sure, if the offer comes up.'

'See! You're making more friends, Abbey.' Janet cheerfully said.

Abbey gave a very sourful glare before rolling his eyes and looking out to the other side of the window, but he appeared to soften when Stacy's hand went to his arm. 'Aww, go easy on him.' Stacy said.

'Alright, alright.' Janet said. She turned back to Paulo, 'Best rest up during Sunday, then right?' She turned towards Sue next, 'How did the party turn out? Well?'

'Yeah, we all had a good time!' She said cheerfully. She looked at Paulo, and gave a little shrug, 'Despite, accidents, I suppose.'

'Do you need a lift home too?'

'No, no. Not this time.' Sue smiled. 'My mother should be close behind.'

Paulo's thumb rubbed against the side of his cheek. That wasn't exactly the truth. 'Your mom hasn't replied yet, though.' He sung out. 'You know, you should hop in too; you live in that direction.'

Sue turned around, wide eyed at the suggestion, 'What? No! We're going home together. What would you do? Walk?'

'I would not!' He shouted at her.

'Earlier you said your father is out of town for the evening.' Sue said back.

He scratched his head. Ah. He did say that before, didn't he? 'Oh. . .right.'

'Scatterbrains!' She shouted back. 'You know, _you_ should get in instead.'

'What? No!'

She turned towards Janet. 'Can you take Paulo as well? I'm sorry for asking.'

Janet considered it. 'Well . . .we do have one more seat.' Janet said.

'Might as well make the best of the trip.' Kevin joined in.

'Hey, Sue, I never accepted that. Besides I live too far away from everyone anyway.' Paulo protested.

'Where do you live again?' Janet asked.

'Elizibeth Street.' Paulo answered.

Kevin whistled. 'That's way on the end of town.'

'Yeah. . .I—I don't really want to leave Molly alone for longer than we need. We can still drop you off.' Janet suggested.

'My place isn't too far from you, Paulo.' Stacy said. 'I could always see if one of my parents could do the rest of the trip.'

'Thanks, but. . .' He turned back at Sue. 'You should go, your place is closer to Abbey's home. It would save you the detour.'

Sue shook her head again. 'My mother is coming and they've offered to drive you! Look, you look awful, Paulo. You really should take the quickest way home and put yourself in bed.' She suggested again.

He squinted painfully in her direction. Did it always have to feel this difficult with her. It didn't set right with him; her deciding for him and the idea he'd have to leave her alone; on her own. It was out of the question. But, a part of him really wanted to take Janet up on the offer to take him home. The thought of his bed even in its worn state felt amazing to him. He yearned for it.

But he couldn't agree. He shook his head to them. 'Thanks for the offer guys, but I'll be fine. I'll stick around with Sue.'

'No! Get in!' Sue said.

He'd had enough. 'Is this some kind of a trick?' He said, turning to her. 'There's no way I'm leave you out here on your own.' Paulo shouted. He turned to Abbey. 'Seriously, back me up here.'

Sue turned to Abbey with a glare in her eye. 'You'd better not.' She warned.

Abbey contemplated what she meant. He considered his options and her wishes, but. . .hell, a habit's hard to boot. He shook his head. 'Well, I wouldn't either.'

'Perfect.' Paulo said with a grin. Thank you so much for the offer but I'll stick around and keep Sue company.'

Janet looked at Kevin with an uneasy expression.

'They'll be fine.' Kevin assuringly. He pointed back towards the mansion. 'Besides, look, there's someone else walking down now, another girl. There'll probably be more of them soon.'

It was too quick for Paulo, but he thought he had seen Sue's eyes growing wider before turning back towards the mansion and to its gate with some speed. He shook his head, 'We shouldn't be here for too long then if that's the case. You guys get home.'

Kevin nodded, 'Look after yourselves then. At least it's not as bad at the storm we had a few weeks ago but it's pretty cold out.'

'We'll be fine.' Paulo smiled reassuringly.

'Suppose you could always cuddle up to each other if it's too cold. It's what I'd do with Janet.' Kevin replied, he laughed when Janet's fist lightly graced his shoulder.

'Stop.' She laughed.

'Alright, I'll keep that in mind.' Paulo smiled back. He turned to Abbey and Stacy, 'We'll see you guys back at school.'

'Yeah. See you back at school.' Abbey said.

'See you back at school!' Stacy shouted.

Paulo thought he heard Kevin telling them to buckle up tightly as the windows rolled their way up. The car reved its engine and drove off into the night. Paulo watched and waved as it did so, before Sue suddenly shot past him, waving her arms as she did so. The car didn't show any signs of stopping, and Sue slowed down as it disappeared into the black. Her hands came down, she turned back and walked towards him. Paulo couldn't help but be worried as she looked a little worried herself.

'What's the matter?' He asked, 'You changed your mind at the last second?'

'I. . .I just checked my phone. I realised why I never got a response; it never sent! I—I don't know what's going on, but my phone isn't sending!'

Paulo stared at her for a second. 'S—Shit! So none of the messages went?'

'I—I musn't have noticed until now! I restarted it and the reception bar's empty!' She panicked. 'W—What about your phone? Have you got a signal?'

Paulo reached for his phone only to find the cavity in his pocket empty. He was sure he bought it with him. He felt his heart fall in his chest. Did he lose it at the party? 'I've. . .lost it! Shit! I must have left it up at Katie's house.'

'Do you remember where you put it?'

'I. . .I don't remember! I had it when I arrived! I felt it when I went to get the invitation.' He thought to himself. He bought a fist onto his hand when he realised.'It must've fallen out of my pocket when that dick-head hit me! Wait here.'

'Where are you going?'

'Back up to the mansion, I'll go get it.'

'It'll be fine! Don't worry about it for tonight!'

'Why?' Paulo asked, turning back.

'The bouncer won't probably let you back in. I'll see i I can get Stacy to get it back for you when we go back to school.'

Paulo scratched his head. 'Aw come on Sue, I have to try. It's one of the few things I own!'

'Katie's not going to keep that thing. I don't think she's that petty. . . I hope.' She said.

A gust of wind blew into them. Sue's arms crossed over into each other. 'F—F—Freezing!' She managed between her chattering teeth.'

Paulo's fists shook at his side. 'God dammit. Alright then. What should we do? Ask that person coming down for a lift?'

'A—A—Are you serious?!' Sue shouted. 'After what happened? N—No! C'mon! We'll walk back towards town.' She said, grabbing onto his arm and walking in the direction towards the town. 'Hopefully I'll get reception by the time we get closer.'

'Walk? Are you insane? You just got up me for the suggestion before.'

'Yes but we weren't talking about reception at the time, were we?!'

Paulo managed to free his arm, 'Look, Abbey's folks said someone was coming down, let's just ask them if we can make a phone call?'

'N-No! Come on!' She shouted again, grabbing onto his hand and tugging hard in her direction as she continued down the road. 'I'm not going to rely on one of Katie's friends. So let's go, the air is freezing!'

'Sue! What's gotten into you?! Ow!' He shouted, nearly tripping and losing his footing with the force of the tug. 'Just wait a minute!'

She wouldn't. She wasn't going to heed his call. Her brisk walk quickly turned into a run. He had no choice; he had to follow with her pace as she tightly held onto him or otherwise he'd be dragged. It turned into a run, faster as they crossed the gateway and towards the hill where they walked from. He looked back one last time sideways towards the mansion as they ran past the gate, and cursed his rotten luck as he thought to his phone.

Then they disappeared into the night.

* * *

 **Author: I sat on this one for a majority of the month unintentionally. I had to split this chapter since it was getting too long. Part 4 will be posted over the weekend.**


	28. Battered Hearts (Part IV)

Sue eventually let go of Paulo's arm. She hadn't meant to — she'd have sooner dragged him all the way back to his house if she could have managed the distance — but her grip had weakened the further they ran, and his arm slipped out as she grew exhausted from all the running. Just as well that it had, as in that same moment she rolled forward suddenly as her foot awkwardly caught one of the pavers, and she flailed about uncontrolably to try and regain her footing. She just managed to keep upright, much to her own surprise despite only having the one free arm. Relief was there too, having not fallen over and caused herself yet another injury like her arm to top off the drama from that night.  
She was done; done with the running, she stopped abruptly in the middle of the pathway and bent over in exhaustion as she tried to regain her breath. That was crazy! She told herself between them. She didn't pay attention to Paulo, instead turning to where they'd run from, to nothing; just the pitch black of night and street lamps lighting the pavement. She couldn't see the mansion anymore. Not even the lights from the second story windows. The loud music that could hear clearly from the front of the house was now just an audiable whisper, even over her own breathing. Despite that being the case, she kept watching, as if there was something there, hiding in the shadows. She wondered how many yards they'd ran in that short period of time, though stopped when she made up her mind that it wasn't as important as it was getting away from that place as fast as they could. She was about furious as she was devastated at how the night had gone. How dareKatie treat her and all her friends in that way, especially after one of her own supposed 'friends' attacked Paulo from out from nowhere. Was accountability dead? Was it with her instead? She knew it was a bad idea to let Katie host the christmas party, she had a feeling something like this was going to happen! But she so wanted a Christmas party, but none of them had the house for it. None of them could convince their parents to let some forty or sixty or so students in their houses. None of them were like Tess and Rachel, but Katie was, and she had offered. They couldn't have helped but all feel there was something she wanted from it. Katie only ever bothers herself with something unless she wanted something. Everyone they'd invited had seemed to think the same. Maybe that's why it was only them who responded by the RSVP date and nobody else. Katie appeared to have wanted more, so she brought, or she supposed — she '*bought'* her own friends.

The rest was history.

The thought of pulling all of them out from the party had cross her mind days before the day they were supposed to RSVP, but she found herself unable to when Stacy told her she was still going. Stacy didn't tell them why exactly. She couldn't help but shake the feeling they were being pressured to somehow. How right she was! She needed to in order to make sure Katie didn't start to hate her, but a lot of good that turned out to be at the end of the day.

God, Sue couldn't help but think to herself. Why did Stacy even bother with her after all these years? Katie treated her like shit. She had better friends; them! But, her thoughts started to wonder. Maybe it was because Katie would've been alone for the most part if not for her. Someone had to be her friend. Nobody deserved to be alone. A hand went to her own head, she thought the same about Paulo too. They both weren't so different in that respect.

Her thoughts finally went to him and that night. She so desperately wanted to treat Paulo to a good time. One where they didn't fight. Just the two of them having a good time together, and with friends for a change. Something he struggled to admit he had. She begged them all to go despite the urge to pull out of the party. And hell, even when Abbey lost his, she came up with the brilliant idea of convincing the bouncer that Abbey had been her partner and their invitation was for the both of them. That would've been embarrassing has Paulo noticed. She'd arrived earlier than him, but he somehow figured it all out. She stood straight up again. She was...pleasantly surprised though with one aspect of the night when she thought back to that moment. Abbey needed the break as much as Paulo did; a break from a failing relationship, one they had all hoped would work out for the best of them. It was a risk. She knew the two of them wouldn't get along. Not since the two of them had to share Daisy's attention back in the past, one as a friend and the other the boyfriend. But somehow, despite the rocky start, she was even more so surprised when Paulo took it upon himself to try and deal with Abbey's problems. She'd never asked for that, a staggering change she was happy for.  
In fact, there had been a lot of changes recently. He'd been doing so well as of recent. He was almost a different person. Certainly not the same person who started at Roseville high. His studies had improved so much having only needed to show him that he can achieve some great results just only if he put in the effort to try. He needed the reward. It might have been too early to celebrate, but with them both deciding not to have Christmas gifts for each other, she decided the party could be one gift they could share together, just to show that good effort would be rewarded.  
She had to admit their relationship was working out a little better too. They had been getting along despite some. . . small differences they needed to work through. But they had yet to have a day out together which wasn't with its problems. . .

And tonight had them too, and she was furious in that regard. There'd be hell to pay for Katie when they'd go back to school. She wasn't going to let this go by. She could only wonder to herself how she was going to even the score. She still possessed some influence in the school newsletter committee, she considered, despite having given up her editorial position to one of the sophomores a couple of months ago. Surely someone had a favour to repay her after all the effort she made to getting those printed out on time, enough to do one simple favour, maybe some character assassination.  
She grit her teeth again; maybe not, she figured. They'd likely have moved on by now, forgotten about her. That's what that club was like after all. No time to keep tabs with people. But part of her figured that was also what her luck was like too, she found out in no shortage of time. Just another writer. She wanted to use it to improve her writing, but she didn't get the feedback she wanted. No time to go around asking anyone from her school about it either. The assumption was that nobody read it, so they were allowed to run whatever they wanted. Sue ran stories to try and raise people's motivations, but she wondered if that may have factored in, in some way. The worst part of her had wondered if people didn't because they'd thought it'd feed into her ego. She just wanted to improve, but there just wasn't any time to get any real thoughts. She'd only find the way by moving onto the next story as soon as she could.  
She felt depressed, thinking back to it for a moment. She stopped herself, shaking her head; it was another lifetime ago. She had to give that all up as much as she loved the role; she just didn't have any time anymore. She needed to make room for Paulo to start with. But she'd never tell him that. Never tell him what she gave up. He didn't need to know. Didn't need to worry. Just pass. That was all she wanted.

Crap! She hadn't even thought about Paulo for real until just now; he mentioned how sore he was to her and the others earlier. She hadn't even spared a thought about that when she dragged him all of a sudden from the front of the mansion! She didn't mean to make things worse! She just had to! Needed to! Everything else was secondary!  
She turned towards towards him with a dread in her heart. It turned out to be misplaced; he was smiling back towards her. Of all things. There was something else there too she wasn't happy with. He didn't look exhausted at all! Was there not a single bit of sweat on him from that? No, of course there wouldn't be. This was normal for Paulo; walking, running, riding, everywhere, all the time.

He was ready for more. He bought his hands to his hips, 'That was a good run.' He said with some glee in his voice. He struck a pose, ready to go again. 'Ready to run another few hundred?' He asked.  
She exhaled through her teeth at the display, her breath mixing with the cold air and crystalising into a white mist before evaporating, not doing much to mask her own frustration at his promptuous display. That did nothing but piss her off further than before. 'Shut. . .Up.' She said between breaths, trying to keep that familiar feeling down.

He smiled and patted her on the back, 'Takes you back to middleschool when this was all compulsory, doesn't it?' He said.

That did it. Her eyes narrowed onto him. Nothing more could have been said that wouldn't have made her more cross. But she did her best to make it seem not apparent to him, she knew he wasn't deliberately trying to antagonise her. It was just his usual boasting.  
Her competitive side flared at it. She wanted to play that game with him again. Like they had in the past — her game; the one where she strove to beat Paulo in everything there was.

Sue wouldn't want to admit it to anyone, but there was a time when she wasn't doing so well in middle school. She liked to read her books, but those weren't the ones from school. It only took one bad mark when Sue realised it was time to get serious, and she started to read a different kind of book that would teach her to how to do that. One of those taught her to treat things was to treat things like a game, and she certainly liked those. It gave rise to the spirit she had today, to be the better person than she was yesterday, and that included her studies.

And it was effective.

It was always one sided; her friends didn't know. Sue kept it secret from them, she couldn't begin to imagine what their thoughts would be if they'd learned. She'd sooner died from embarrassment. But treating everything she had to do a school like a game seemed to be quite effective with her. She needed that way of thinking back when she was a kid, she needed it even more throughout highschool. It was especially hard not to be so demotivated around so many people who were just absolutely perfect to her in comparison. A driving force to push her further and further. She'd come out the top of all of them. . .one of these days.

At some stage during middle school she felt she needed someone to compare herself against. A medium that she could use to gauge whether she was improving or falling behind; a rival. It used to be Mike, once upon a time. She knew him from as far back as kindergarten. The competition with him didn't start there, but it did in third grade, back when she started to have feelings for him. She sighed inside herself when she realised how much of a bad decision that was. Mike triumphed over her and everyone else in their class in everything. She needed to start smaller.

Eventually Paulo came to Roseville at some point , and that's when things started to change. Finally, there was someone who was on equal footing to her. She remembered when they were so happy with the teacher marked them with a B in their maths exam. That's when she'd decided it was going to be him.  
There was a bit of unease in her when she thought back to that moment. She wanted to be friends with him by that stage as well, but she'd never tell him that. Daisy was quicker to jump onto that once her own best friend left, and then slowly they made friends with Mike and Lucy. She begged to be part of that group.

Her closest friend at the time had let her.

But it was before that when Paulo had started to lack in his studies. There wasn't much competition any more in him as Paulo's marks began to fall, and he suddenly became more irritable to her. She was sad for it. She pitied him and his lack of drive. Part of her wanted to help him find that competitive spirit in him again. But Paulo had changed, and neither of them were ever going to get along.

She had to shelve that dream, for a long time until very recently when she instead felt he need he needed her help too.  
Never the less, Paulo did remain on top in one area where his brain didn't have to be used. And that was in sports. Paulo was always well above her in sports. She couldn't win despite her best efforts, Paulo was far too fit and she was trying to win in every place he couldn't.

So she got over it. Told herself she needed to focus more on where she wanted to go. That seemed to work, she could always continue playing the game, but she'd only do it with things she prefered to enjoy. But even now that part of her bemoaned her for giving up so easily.  
There was stll a rivalry. She was still trying to come out on top of him, even in their studies. She was winning, but that made her all the more sad.

'How the hell are you not exhausted?' She managed to gasp.

'I walk to and from school every day.'

'Doesn't that become a problem given how far your house is from home? What if it rains?'

'Then I take an umbrella in with me.'

She grumbled to herself. She didn't know why she bothered. Pointing out a lot of the inconveniences in Paulo's life never went anywhere and she should've learned better by now. He'd insist there wasn't ever a problem; never would he admit to being a victim of being disadvantaged in an unfair world. It grated on her. Things didn't have to be this hard for him. He could always ask for assistance from some government agency. It would help him out in the long term, maybe help him afford better things for himself. He didn't have to suffer. If only she could find a way to get him to stop being so arrogant with his persistence that things were fine.

She sighed again, the thing from earlier was still in her head; defeat at the hands of Paulo. She groaned out aloud in absolute frustration; this was the worst. She was completely out of breath. The night had been filled with nothing but problems after problems. Now there was another one which caused her more strife at the very same second; she couldn't decide whether she was hot from the exertion, or cold from the sweat that had formed all over her. It wouldn't take her too long; the cold won over. She held onto her sides like before and shivered as they walked through the street. 'Tell me it's getting colder.' She said through her chattering teeth. 'I'm starting to shiver like crazy!'

Like a cue, he didn't miss a beat. He reached over and held onto her hand. 'How about now?' He asked her with a grin, squeezing it a little.

She rolled her eyes and sighed to herself before smiled and squeezing his hand in return. 'Well. . .I'd say that's better in a way. But I wouldn't say I'm any warmer.' She shouldn't have said that. She felt his hand let go and felt a little sadder for it. She shook her head as she watched Paulo removing his coat. 'No! Don't do that! Surely you feel the cold too!'

'Nah, I'm thick, remember?' He told her, before whipping his jacket over and around her shoulders. After a while, 'No good, huh?' He commented.

She shook her head and hugged it tighter over herself. 'I—It is; it's warmer.'

'Ah, wasn't referring to that.' He said, clarifying, 'I meant I was expecting you to make a quip just before.'

She looked at him with a blank expression, still trying to process what he meant.

'I said I'm thick, you know? Thick-headed?.' He elaborated, seeming a little concerned and disappointed. 'Really, I was expecting a quip from you on that - thick headed, ya know?'

She felt awful inside from the thought. 'N-No I wouldn't!' She said, saddened. 'I wasn't going to complete it either.'

'Aw, come on, just trying to bring your mood up.' He joked, his arm came around her back. She kept facing forward with a very somber look on her face and he sighed when he saw it. He couldn't help but notice she'd appeared down since the party. He could have taken a few good guess as to why, having quite a few of his own suspicions. He knew she felt responsible for everything that happened that night. That's the kind of person Sue was above everything else, and she couldn't have felt more miserable.

But she wouldn't be allowed to dwell on it by herself. She felt Paulo's lips against her temple. She forgot about all of in that moment.

'H-Hey! You can't just go doing that without asking first!'

He looked at her surprised. 'How come?'

'What did I say about being affectionate in public?!'

Paulo looked around slowly. 'Gee!' He started, 'It looks like there's no one around for miles, Sue.'  
She glared at him. He was making fun of her. Of course there wasn't a single soul around them. She knew that. She didn't know why she blurted that out of all of a sudden. 'S-So?!' She shouted. 'W-We should use this as practice for school. No more of those problems like we had a month ago.'

'Or. . .I could drown you in all the affection I could muster until someone picks us up.' He mused, trying to poke into her side with a finger.

She dodged it. 'No. . Why would you?' She asked somberly.

He gave an aggravated sigh. 'Because you need to stop thinking about that dumb party.' He told her. 'You're acting like you were responsible for it or something.'

She couldn't help it, she still felt she was responsible in someway for that shit-show. She looked at the ground. 'I only wanted you to relax for a bit.' She sulked.

'I'm relaxed now.'

Her shoulders dropped as she studied him. 'Are you, really? Even after that drunk idiot hit you?'  
'What am I supposed to do about it?' He shrugged. 'Keep being upset about it?' He flapped his arms. 'Should I? Am I meant to be angry at someone? Katie? It was her party after all?'

'You can be angry at me.'

His face soured. 'I'm not doing that. It's not your fault, so cut it out. I'm relaxed now.'

'How can you act like everything's fine?' She sulked.

'Because I'm out here in the freezing cold with you.' He laughed, 'Sure beats being in Katie's stuffy house.' He said looking behind himself.

She couldn't help but blush from it. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair how he kept his inner emotions to himself, and at the same time it wasn't fair how she would flare up something crazy and feel so different inside when he said such things. She held onto her arm. 'Just how can you still be so positive after that?!'

'I dunno.' He said. 'I mean, it's great I didn't die or anything, but. . .' He held onto her hand again, 'But I came to the party for you and Stace, one of us has to be the positive one' He said. He paused for a second, 'Seriously, I appreciate the thought of getting me out for a bit. You're the best.'

She said nothing and watched the ground as they walked. She sighed to herself and pushed up against him. 'Hearted.' she said.

'Huh?' He asked, confused.

'I—I said you're thick-hearted.' She stammered, looking away from him.

He couldn't help but bellow out a laugh. 'You're getting a lot better at this flattery thing.'

'Oh, stop it.' She held her eyes closed for a moment as the feelings inside forced her to smile. She forgot how weak she felt in her legs. Her balance shifted suddenly, threatening to fall off the pavement and onto the road. Paulo had only just managed grab hold of her before she could fall.

'Close one.' He commented when he caught her.

'Y—Yeah.' Sue agreed. She held onto his hand as she pulled herself up again. She tried to thank him, but instead shrieked in his face as her bare foot touched the cold footpath. She didn't mean to do that; she hadn't expected it at all. She found herself staring down to her bare foot hanging in the air, refusing to touch the pavement again. Then she and Paulo looked behind themselves. They found the shoe right behind them on its side with the broken stap that once kept it in place..

'Ah gee. . .' Paulo said when he noticed and walked over to it. He bent over and retrieved it, taking some time to give it a real good look, some attention going to one of the straps that had ripped from the stress. It was a shame; he'd decided it was a real nice shoe she'd worn now that he could see it. But his attention wavered back to the sound of someone on the virge of sobbing, and quickly turned back to Sue to find her shaking on the virge of tears. She couldn't take it as best she tried. Tonight was just horrible for everyone.  
He dropped the shoe and ran over to her, throwing his arms around her. 'Don't cry, Sue.' He begged. 'It's okay.'

'No it's not!' She cried. 'Everything just been. . .horrible! I really wanted this night to be the best for us but everything just keeps going to shit!'

He thought he felt her disappointment. 'There'll be other times.' He tried to reassure her. 'Don't cry, you're going to ruin your make up again.'

She wiped her tears on her arm. 'Hah, I—I didn't put it back on after I left the kitchen. . . Besides.' She pointed down to his shirt and to the make up of hers that she'd sobbed into him the first time. 'I made a mess on you last time.'

'I can clean that out. Stop worrying.' Paulo tried to assure her. He felt worse about her dress. The turquoise dress she wore was now stained in various places with traces of red; his blood when she threw herself into him. It would be a miracle if it took only one clean to remove them. . .  
No, he told himself; he was certain the dress was ruined, that was a shame as well. He had noticed how nice it looked when he arrived at the party but never got a real got look at her. Only now did he wonder how it could've looked with a more sober Sue who wasn't doubled over on one of Katie's couches. The dress' radience was gone, marked with smeers of his blood, and he felt sad for it. He squeezed her tighter in their embrace. 'The only thing I've got to be sad about his you spent all this time to look so outstanding, only for me to get it dirty.'

She mumbled something into his arm.

'Sorry?' He said, loosening his hold.

She pulled herself off him to say it again. 'Better late saying that now than never.'

'Well, I tried to before, you know. You really did go all out.' He looked her up and down. 'Still, You really do still look something amazing.'

Her face went red. 'N-Now you're just trying to tease!'

'Come on! You put so much time in to look nice this evening, I could tell!'

She looked to the side and down towards the pavement. 'T-Thank you.' She stuttered.  
He smiled once hers came around. There was a different problem they needed to contend with. 'Well. . . How are we going to do this?' He wondered, cupping a hand to his chin.

'Do what?'

'Well, we aren't staying here.'

'No, I'm going to end up freezing up if we do.'

Paulo scratched his cheek. 'I—I suppose I should carry you?' Paulo suggested.

'C. . . C—Carry?' Sue sputtered.

'Sure, I mean I'll just prop you up like thi-' He tried moving his arm around her back, but Sue hopped backwards suddenly.

'We can't do that!' She shouted. 'Look, I'll just try to walk, it'll be a little slower but—' She made a gasp and a pained expression when she stepped back on the footpath with her barefoot again.

'Too cold, right?' Paulo asked.

'N. . .no. I—I think I've twisted my ankle.'

'Then I'm going to have to carry you then, there's no other way.' He moved forward but again, Sue moved away suddenly. He grew frustrated. 'Stop already! You can't walk like that!' He shouted.

'Y—You can't carry me, aren't you sore?!' She said in a panic.

'Well what else do you suggest we do? Do you have reception yet?'

She checked her phone. 'N—No. I don't.'

'Well, we're not getting home any faster like this.'

'I can walk barefoot. It'll be slower but—'

'Like hell, you can.' He said. 'Just let me carry you.'

Sue grumbled to herself. She took a second. 'F—Fine then. Just. . .just not like how you were trying before.'

'What's wrong with carrying you from the front of me?' He asked confused.

'People do that when they're married!' She shouted.

'But we're not!'

'What if someone sees?'

He couldn't help but laugh through his teeth at her embarrassment. 'Come on, Sue! Who's going to care out this late? Fine, then I won't carry you from the front.' He turned his back towards her and kneeled down. He stayed like that for a moment, then got aggitated when nothing happened, 'Come on, get on already!'

'What are you doing?' Sue asked, confused.

'Carrying you on my back, what else?' Paulo shouted. 'Has nobody ever carried you before?'

'O—Of course they have! You don't need to do that anyway! Just wrap your arm around my shoulder and I'll walk with you!'

'Oh come on, you're far too short for that.'

'Am not!'

'You are too! You're head shorter than me.'

'Maybe if your head wasn't so b—'

'Come on, Sue. I'm starting to freeze too. We need to go already!'

She mumbled to herself frustratingly. Paulo had a point. Her only last offer she could make was hopping with him all the way back. But she knew by now he wasn't going to allow that either. Her other shoe could probably fall appart much like the other had. Although it wouldn't be too bad at this point. With the say her face was she could melt the snow around them without much effort, red with embarassment at the realisation this was the only way they could get home. This wouldn't have been so bad if she was still a kid. But. . . to nearly be an adult and be carried like this?  
Then again. . .she wondered. She hadn't. . .ever been carried before by a boy her age. It was going to be difficult with the dress, she had to roll it up a little. Feeling even more embarassed now. She stood behind him and put her hands on his shoulders. 'What now?' she asked. She didn't have to wait too long for an answer; as his arms wrapped around her legs, then she ascended into the air, or at least, higher than him.

She couldn't keep it in any longer. 'G—God this is so embarassing!'

'Never met anyone who didn't like being carried.'

'That's not the problem!'

'Haven't you ever been carried before? Was your last boyfriend too short?'

'Shut up! We never did anything like this!' God, what if someone sees us? I had to roll up the dress!'

'O—Oh.. . . Well! Nobody's around to see, it'll be fine.' He tried to assure her.

'Easy for you to say. Nobody will recognise you with that headdress wrapped around your head!'

'Oh my god, who's going to recognise us? The older kids?!' He shouted over his shoulder.  
She didn't give him a response. 'N—never mind. Are you sure you want to carry me around?' She asked worryingly 'You were hurt earlier, you shouldn't—'

'Stop being a worry-wart, I'm fine.' He told her. But that ended up being a bit of a lie. It was when he felt his grip slipping, he tried to move his hands in a way he could get a better grip on Sue's legs, but he'd instead strained with how sore his arms they really were. He hoped she didn't notice. 'Keep your phone out, if you get a signal you let me know.' He told her before slowly starting to walk forward, carefully so he wouldn't slip over himself and trying to get used to the extra difficulty. His back hurting was the next problem, but he figured out what was causing it. 'Put your cast around my neck with my other arm, you're better holding on like.'

She did so, bringing her other arm around to the front of him too and held on tight. Blushing all the while.

Without a moment's hesitation, Paulo pressed on, carrying Sue with him into the night.

* * *

'Paulo!' Sue shouted suddenly.

His ears flicked when he'd heard it. 'What's up?'

'Your hands are sliding back too far.' She said, pulling on his ear. 'Are you trying to cop a feel?'

'Ow! Stop! I'm not!' He winced in pain. 'My grip's just slipping because you're pushing into me!' He shouted back.  
She was going to let him have it just for that, until she found herself in mid-air for a moment when he moved his hands quick enough so he could re-adjust them closer towards the back of her knees. 'Better?' He asked.

'Much.' Sue said. But she seethed in embarassment from what he said just now. His hands hadn't actually come too close to her at all. It was that she had panicked when she found herself getting too comfortable being carried like this. She thought of something to talk about to distract herself from it, but Paulo already had something. Her ears perked up once she heard him.

'What do you think of Abbey and Jasmine?' He asked.

'What do you mean?' She wondered. 'Do you mean if they make a good pair?'

'Yeah.' Paulo said nodding.

She took a moment to think about it. She hadn't paid too much attention to Abbey's relationship as of late. She was much too busy with Paulo until he suddenly showed up on their MMO server a few weeks before. She was going to tease him about his relationship and all the cute things they must have been getting up to together. It didn't work out like that at all, and Abbey shot offline once she tried. It was when she rang his house in desperation she got the full picture, and felt sad for him, sad it had gone in the way that it had and that she hadn't been a good a friend to him during that time. She was there when Jasmine became his rebound but certainly wasn't there to see much of how they were both going. 'I don't know.' She ended up admitting. 'They seemed to get along, I guess? I'm really hoping they worked out their differences from before. I was really sure for a moment it was going to work out from much earlier in the week.' She scratched her chin with her finger. 'What about you? What did you think.'

Paulo didn't say anything for a good while. 'Dunno myself.' He eventually said.

'Did either of them talk to you when you spoke to them?' She queried.

'Oh, yeah. I spoke to Jasmine for a bit. Get this; it seems like at times it's very one directional. Abbey seemed to be keen on following her lead with everything.'

'But that's fine, isn't it?' She asked. 'Abbey just needs to do things he wants to do sometimes, right?'

'Yeah but it's starting to sound all too familiar.'

'What do you mean?'

'Daisy used to talk to me about this too.'

Sue was surprised. 'Huh.'

'What?'

'I wouldn't have taken you to be interested in their relationship at all.' She said.

He turned his head as far back as he could to her, 'Hey, she was my friend, you know? Someone had to care about it. She asked me to get them back toget—' He stopped.

'It was _you_ who got them back together?!' Sue shouted. 'Were you thinking correctly?! Especially after what she said about Mike?'

'Hey! She really wanted to be in a relationship with him again!' He turned back towards the front. 'But. . .god, you're right. I shouldn't have even tried back then.' He turned back to her. 'You seem to know more about him. Does he ever do anything for himself?'

'What do you mean?'

'Like does he ever go and see movies he wants to see or drag Jasmine to them?'  
She tried giving it some real thought. She couldn't think of a recent time, maybe back during the game? She really couldn't see him not. . .helping someone or something. 'I can't really think of a time.'  
He gave a small exasperated sigh, 'Yeah, that's was the problem back then too from what Daisy told me.'

'But that's fine, he can work on that, right?'

Paulo shook his head. 'They'd been going out for a while now, haven't they? Even with Daisy, he should've learn—.' He stopped all of a sudden. 'Now that I think about it, I think they've worked out they're two different people. Maybe they got along for a while when they started going out but. . .I don't know. Jasmine seems to think he's only doing things to please her. Maybe she's realised and she's starting to look for something else.'

Sue didn't say anything for a moment. There was a bit of unease in her at what he was saying. 'What about us?' She asked.

'What do you mean?'

'Do you think we get along?'

'Whaddya mean all of a sudden?' He chuckled, 'Of course we get along!' He jumped a little in his step. 'Why would you ask?'

'I. . . dunno.' She said, sinking down from behind him, 'I. . .I was just wondering, I guess? We didn't. . .exactly get along for a long time either.' She said softly beneith her voice.

He looked behind his shoulder for a moment, then forward again towards the road. 'You know, we haven't fought with each other in a while, haven't we?'

'Hmm?' Sue shot up.

'I know right? Guess we are a good pair!' He shouted loudly with a huge grin.

'Yeah.' Sue said with a smile.

'But. . .going back to Abbey and Jazz though, I don't know. . .maybe they'll come around? Maybe not. But one thing I thought was clear was he might not be who she really wants inside.'

He felt Sue lean her head against the back of her neck. 'It would be sad if they broke up. I thought he finally found the support he really needed.'

'Yeah. . .but that fruitcake needs to share some of the things he likes to do. You know?' He gave a bit of a chuckle,

'Jasmine's certainly a different person now.'

'Bet you wish you didn't blow it as hard back then?' Sue teased.

'What's with that?' He asked suddenly. He had a stern face when he thought back to that moment. 'No.' He thought aloud. 'Needed to happen. It probably would've been the same. She would've gotten sick of me eventually.' He laughed.

She felt sad for asking. 'Why did you both break up originally?'

Paulo was silent for a while. 'I liked someone else.'

That didn't need an answer from her. She had a feeling who he really meant.

'How about you?' Paulo had to ask.

'Hmm?'

'Are you happy?' He asked.

Sue squeezed her arms around him tighter and pressed herself against his back. 'I am. Thank you for trying to find out what was going on back there between them. It was selfish of me to try and get you involved.'

'Yeah. . .well. . .not entirely sure why you thought I could help of all people.' He laughed again. 'But, it was nice that you thought I could.'

She moved her head next to his and hugged him tighter. 'That's because you're got hidden talent for helping people when they're down.'

That made him feel glum inside, he wasn't so sure. Every time he tried it felt like something had gone wrong. 'God, now you're sounding a lot like Daisy..'

'I really mean it! Thank you for trying.' She said again.

He felt a warmth in his chest. 'Sure, anything for you.'

After a while they had left the rich part of the neighbourhood and reached some form of the town they could recognise. Sue had been keeping an ever watchful eye on her phone since he started carring her. In that same time she'd managed to convince herself to not worry about the party like Paulo had suggested. But there was a different sadness in her this time. She knew at some point she'd have to get down off Paulo's back at some stage. She'd gotten used to this, daresay she even started to enjoy it. She hugged him into him again .  
'You've been really clingy recently.' Paulo thought to say.  
Her arms relaxed themselves, almost releasing him. 'O—Oh, have I?' She asked worringly. 'There's not a problem with that, is there?'

'Oh! N—No! Not at all! It's just interesing to see you get so cuddly when we're on our own.' He looked back to her.

'Making the best of the night.'

'Oh...You...' She blushed. 'You can put me down over by that bench there. I was going to tell you, I've got reception.'

'I'll just go a bit further.' Paulo planned, 'Pretty sure it'll just be a weak signal.'

There wasn't a need. She looked at her phone and at the full signal indicator. She'd been mean to tell him for a while. . .but oh, but this was too nice, too nice to give up.

'It's gone to a full signal now actually, you can put me down now.' She said to him.

'Ah, are you sure?.'

'You've done more than enough.'

He didn't listen. He kept walking.

'Paulo I said you can put me down.'

'I've changed my mind.'

'What?'

He turned his head and smiled back at her. 'I'm kidnapping you.'

'You are not.' She shouted.

'Yes I am. I'm gonna walk you all the way home.' He said, turning his head and smiling back to her.

'No you're not! Surely you're getting tired by now!'

'Nope! I'm fit enough!'

Her ears fell. 'You're tired by now. I can tell Paulo. Come on, put me down, you don't have to carry me all the way to my home. You deserve a comfortable ride home now. Let me do the rest.'

He didn't hear her, and kept walking on.

'Paulo!' She shouted and yanked on his ear.

'Ow, alright!' He said, and turned back towards the bench he had walked past earlier. 'It was just a bit of a joke.' He said, setting her down on the bench. He sat beside her as she went to her phone and started to call her parents. He paid no attention to the conversation. He took the time to marvel at the stars overhead instead. There weren't many occasions when he'd thought to hang out here.

Eventually, Sue's phone retreated back into her purse. 'Right!' She said aloud. 'She isn't too far away so we've got the next couple minutes to ourselves.' She turned away suddenly. 'Y-You know what that means right?'

'A few lonely minutes alone under the lamp light at this bench? I can't think of anything else we'd ought to do in a place like this.' He said, leaning in and bringing his arms up around her. Although he couldn't go in for the kiss. He looked down and found Sue's hand pushing back on his chest, he looked back with a confused exprssacross his face.  
'What happened back at the party? As soon as we went to help you, you started acting crazy!'

He lent over to the arm rest and rest his head off his hand. 'Nothing.' He lied.

'Don't act like I didn't saw and it wasn't that big of a deal. You didn't take my offer for my parents to pick you up. I didn't expect you'd try to walk the way there!'

''It's not that far of a walk.' He told her.

'It's a five mile walk! That's only half of the distance to school! I never even said I walked, how did you figure that out?'

'I smelt the colone off of you when we were sitting down. You put on way too much!'

He sighed angrily and crossed his leg, 'Look, I just don't want to talk about it.'

'Paulo, I—'

'Leave it.' He said, but the tone of his voice nearly made him seem like he was begging when he went to speak to her again, 'Please, just don't.'

She felt her hands ring around the purse she held. She did everything she could to try and keep her anger in check.

Something made this important to talk about. Her hand came on to his hand. 'I want to help! Why can't you allow that?'

'Because it's nobody else's business.'

'I want to make it mine.'

'Why?' He asked, the hand he rest his head on coming down onto his lap, 'Why would you want to care about it so much? It doesn't affect you!'

'It doesn't matter! I want to help! That's what I'm here for!'

She watched him turn to the opposite direction away from her.

'Come on! She shouted! I'm here for you!. . .Please, tell me what happened back in the kitchen?'

He looked in the opposite direction, off into the night to their side. He thought of ways he could get out of this conversation. There wasn't any need to talk about it. It just happened, that's all.

But she had a feeling, finally after all this time. 'It's being the victim, isn't it?' She asked, still finding herself talking to the back of his head. 'You don't like the attention.'

He didn't want to answer. He didn't want to. He couldn't even look at her. He didn't want to show her how angry he felt and the humiliation that came with it. His heart hammered inide of his chest. How could've she figured it all out in one go?

He felt her hand slide over to his, he turned part-ways back to her, but the sorrowful look in her eyes made him turn the full way back.

'You don't need to say anything about it if you don't want to. It just reminded me back to last Summer.' She said. 'You're not alone in this world. You can talk to us about it.'

'Maybe.' Paulo said.

'Whenever you feel like you're ready. Just. . . accept people's help when they offer it.'

His heart warmed from it. He smiled.

'You big dummy' She chuckled back, she squeezed his hand tighter.

It didn't take long before Paulo noticed a pair of headlights off in the distance. He stretched his arms over his head and yawned. It'd been a very long night and he was in some serious need of sleep. 'Someone's finally coming, is that her car?' He asked, peering forward from the bench towards the road.

Sue had been resting on his shoulder from the bench. Much like when she was riding on his back, she was awfully sleepy and threatened falling asleep. She looked out as well with some relief in her heart. But she noticed a problem; The car was coming from the direction they had been, certainly not the direction her mother was coming from. 'No, mom would be coming back from the other sid-' Her heart dropped. She didn't finish the sentence. 'Paulo!' She shouted.  
Paulo turned back towards her to see what the problem was, leading into another; he could only see Sue in that moment and only Sue,locking lips with his.

'Sue?!' He tried to say, but the words were lost as Sue wrapped her arms around him and held him closer.

The car shot past them, he wasn't even able to see what it was.  
Eventually she moved back and off him. 'A little warning next time?' Paulo said. 'I mean, I appreciate a kiss, it's just. . .not like that.'

'Sorry.' Sue said, smiling and looking a little embarassed. 'I guess I was a bit too quick that time. Silly me! Just getting caught up in the moment.'

He didn't appear to buy it. He raised an eyebrow. 'What's the matter?'

Sue shook her head, 'Nothing. I just thought it was something you deserved after everything you've done today.'  
Paulo felt himself blushing. 'I already said it wasn't any problem at all. Not that I wanted to deal with Abbey being in such a depressive mood the day after if he came back to the table.' He said, then. 'You know I was really starting to think you were starting to hate kissing.'

'I never said that!'

'Really? You pushed me back from that time when I tried on the balcony.' He laughed.

'T—That's because everyone was watching us! And I never said I didn't. Kissing is n—nice! Don't be mean.'

'Ah, so . .I guess that was for earlier.' He laughed again, 'So, was it any better than the other times?'

She didn't need to wait a second. 'No.'

'Oh geez! So quick!' He laughed. 'Then. . .Did you want to make out for a bit until it does.' He smiled towards her. 'While we wait?'

'We'd already kissed!'

'Why stop at one little smooch when we have all the time in the world?'

She folded her arms and looked to the side, she tried to ignore the two fingers he walked along her arm.  
'Sueeeee.' He cooed.

'What is it?'

'I love you. Especially when you play hard to get.'

'I am not playing hard to get.'

'You say that, but your tail is trying to curl around mine.'  
She hadn't even realised. She took one look behind her and groaned. Paulo was right; her tail was doing its own thing.

'Fine.' She finally said. 'But just long enough before my mother gets here.'

He was a dead-man, she'd decided. At some point in the future, she was going to kill him. She could deal with the constant flushing that happened all that night, but this was taking it too far. Not when she squeeled the way she did when she felt a protrusion in her lips while they kissed. She wasn't expecting that. It had taken her completely by surprise. She'd jumped back suddenly and raised her fingers to her lips and to the sensation. Then she realised what had happened and she looked at Paulo with some scorn and embarassment as he grinned back at the noise she made. He looked as if he did it by accident in the way he held up his hands. He was looking for a reaction. He certainly got one, a cute one that he would never forget when he decided it was time to take their kissing to the next level, and she felt furious over it. She felt he'd expect her to get into him over it. So she did the opposite, she grabbed onto his hands with hers and locked lips with him again, but this time she did the same thing back. She drew back as if to say 'how was that?', but Paulo simply looked impressed by it.  
Her heart thumped in her chest from the experience. She wasn't a second late in drawing back towards him again. This was something else all together, they'd been dry kissing since becoming a pair. But this. . .this was more intoxicating than the alcohol at the party. She wouldn't let him get away. Every time he tried to pull back from the kiss, she pushed back into him.

An absolute drug.

But Sue jumped higher than he did when they both heard a horn blare loudly from the other side of the road. They both turned towards it, only noticing the car parked on the other side of the road. When did that arrive? Better question; how long had it had been parked there for?  
The driver side window wound down revealing her mother's face, and Paulo immediately understood how Sue came to have such an outstanding poker face. He turned to Sue, only to find her redder than a tomato and literally trying to hide her face in her arms. That was to be expected, he thought as he laughed embarrassingly. It was only when he took Sue's hand and walked towards the car did he notice she wasn't so much unimpressed at them, as a very small portion of her mouth was etched upwards; she was grinning. But when she looked at Paulo as he came closer, she was slightly puzzled.

'This isn't the same boy I took you to the party with.' She said. Then she looked appalled when she got a better look at him. Her eyesight must've been much better than the other parents. 'Look at you, you're covered in blood. What happened?'

'It's a long story mom.' Sue cut in. 'That was Abbey. This is my boyfriend. You've met Paulo before.'

'Have I?' She wondered, she gave him a once over from where she sat, before realising. 'Oh! So you're Paulo. I haven't seen you from that one time when your friends were also fighting. Who were they? Mike and Lu-'

'Yeah, back then.' Sue said, trying to forget. She turned to Paulo. 'Where would you like to sit?'

'I'll take the back.'

'Sure.'

Her mother adjusted the rear view mirror so she could get a look at Paulo proper as he took his seat. 'One day we're hopefully going to see each other when you're not covered in blood.' She commented.

'You saw him back when you dropped me off at the movies, remember?' Sue said.

'Oh, I forgot about that. Thank you for being a gentleman and walking Sue home.'

'It's no problem.' Paulo smiled. He almost laughed. 'I can't believe you remember me that far back when we were finishing middle school.'

'Trouble seems to follow you kids an awful lot, someone has to keep their wits up.' He saw her look towards him through the rear view mirror. 'What happened back there?' She asked.

'Ah-uhm. You see.' Paulo tried to say, but Sue had chosen to cover for him.

'Katie ended up bringing friends of hers along who weren't nice. One of them was under the influence and hit Paulo.'

'You should've let me know at the first sign of trouble.' She looked at her daughter. Only then di she see some of the stains in her dress. 'Oh, Susan, your dress.'

'Yeah.' Sue said, giving a light laugh. 'Paulo bleed a bit.'

'You know, we really should take you to the hospital instead.' Her mother said, looking at him in the rear view mirror again.

'It's just a few scrapes.' Paulo said, 'But thank you. I'll be fine.'

Her mother sat with that for a bit, but then she sighed in forfeit. 'Well, then I'm happy it was only that and nothing more serious. Maybe no more parties for a bit.'

Paulo couldn't help but laugh at it. 'Yeah, think we'll stick to movies or trips.'

* * *

Paulo stepped out of the car once they arrived at his place after saying his thank-you's and farewells. He quickly felt around, finding his keys where they were supposed to be. He might have lost his phone, but he certainly wasn't being kept from his bed. He kept waving as the car disappeared into the night before walking back towards the front door and sighed to himself. The night had been a mixture of good and bad; sure he got clocked in the head earlier, but at least he felt closer to some of the friends he'd been with for years now. He thought to call him a fruitcake,but instead he chose idiot. Things between him and Abbey probably wouldn't have been solved immediately on that night, but maybe there would be at least some coexistance between them. Despite the night starting out so rough with Sue, by the end of it they seemed even closer.

* * *

'So that was Paulo.' Sue's mother said once they were on the road again.

'Did you like him.'

'Well I can't say I know him completely just in those short few minutes. He seemed nice enough. . . for someone covered head to toe in blood.'

'Oh. . .Yeah, there was a reason for that.' Sue said to the floor.

'And your dress, your shoe! What on earth happened?!'

'There was a fight. Some drunk idiot tried to pick a fight with Paulo and he couldn't have said no.'

'Where were the parents?'

'It was just us and a few other people.' Sue said, her voice trailing off. 'A few. . .older. . .people.'

'I should give her parents a ring.'

'No! Just don't! I'm just happy that Paulo made it out okay.'

Her mother sighed. 'I thought you hated him for a while, that Paulo boy, given how you spoke about him over the phone.'

'Oh...that...we had our differences, but. . . we seem to be closer friends now.'

'They way you were both getting into it. I could tell.'

'MOM!'

'We're going to have a talk about that when we get home.'

'You can't be serious, mom!' Sue groaned. Her arm came up against the window, she caught herself smiling furiously to her reflection.

* * *

Paulo's key entered the door handle and his hand went to twist, but he hesitated at the precise moment he heard a noise. He turned towards it, leading back towards the mailbox. Something inside was rattling about. It caught his interest. He turned back and walked towards it, opening it up and pulling the contents out. For a moment, he was confused.

'How did this get in there?' He asked as he pulled out his cell phone.

His head raced ahead before his heart started thumped against his chest. It wasn't his imagination after all. He thought he had recognised that car that passed them on that road when he was carrying Sue back. He thought he had recognised the driver. He felt a feeling he hadn't felt in a long time. It spread all around him.  
But still, it was a mystery. He didn't see them at the party at all. They hated parties. When did they pick up his phone?

He couldn't for the life of him wonder why Lucy was there at the party.

* * *

 **Author: I said this chapter would be out on the second week, that turned out to be a huge fat lie because I couldn't be happy with how this was written, I'm still not, so I'm sorry if you've been waiting. Work picked up too and things aren't looking too well in that realm. Next chapter is the last 'new' chapter that wasn't part of the draft. Updates will be hopefully sooner after that one.**


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